


Life in Technicolor Book 3

by leonhart_17



Series: Life in Technicolor [4]
Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-30
Updated: 2012-10-30
Packaged: 2017-11-17 09:16:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 102,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/549992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leonhart_17/pseuds/leonhart_17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Now that they're getting married, Callie Torres and Arizona Robbins have to deal with roommates and decisions about their future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Arizona Robbins knew before she opened her eyes that she was naked. But the sheets and pillows were her bed at home, and the arm around her chest was pulling her back into an equally familiar (and equally naked) body behind her. Callie’s other hand was wrapped around the neck of an empty bottle of whiskey, the sight of it making her groan. Last night had gotten… out of control was putting it mildly. And they were getting married later.

Thank God they didn’t have to work between now and then.

“Calliope,” she rasped out, patting the hand that was idly covering her breast. “Are you awake?” she whispered.

The Latina just grunted into her hair and dropped the bottle to wrap her up in her other arm. “Don’t wanna be,” she groaned. One eye popped open suddenly, though the sunlight streaming through their window shades made it snap back closed. “Did we miss the wedding?”

Arizona, who was decidedly less drunk than her lover (though she had enjoyed the drunken attention), opened her eyes to peek at the clock that had apparently been hit at some point the night before and was wedged between the nightstand and the wall, the numbers barely legible. “No, we’re good,” she answered. “Are you going to be super hung over, though?”

Callie’s smacked her lips, grimacing at the taste of liquor still in her mouth, but nestled closer. “I’m actually feeling okay, I think. I just can’t look into light or hear anything loud.” Even as she said it, something crashed downstairs. “Like that,” she moaned in protest. “Damn it!”

“What do you remember from last night?” Arizona questioned, leaning back into Callie’s body. “Because I remember dancing. And sex pretty much all over the place. And a lot of drinks.”

“That my dad will be paying for,” Callie noted happily.

Laughing, Arizona looked up at the ceiling with a confused frown. “What?”

“Aria told me. She put everything last night on one of my dad’s credit cards.”

She considered that for a long moment. “I should probably be annoyed about that, but I’m surprisingly okay with it,” she decided, matching her fiancée’s cheerful tone. Stretching, Arizona shifted to face Callie, giggling at her lover’s mussed sex hair. “Oh, sweetie, did I do that to your hair?”

Callie stretched as well, one hand helping muss her hair further. “I…” Her fingers reached the end of her hair much sooner than she expected and her mouth fell open in shock. “I - did you do this to my hair?” she asked, voice suddenly high pitched and almost a shriek, making Arizona jump.

“What? What happened to your-oh! Oh my God! Someone cut your hair!”

Callie sat up quickly, both hands inspecting the damage blindly. “Oh my God! What the hell happened to my hair?!” Outside in the hall, something thumped against their door.

Despite herself, Arizona was struggling not to laugh. Half of Callie’s hair was now just at shoulder length while the rest of it was a good seven inches longer, having apparently been sheared off unevenly sometime in the drunken haze of last night. “Calliope…” Her voice was choked as she tried desperately not to laugh. Laughing in this situation would not help her. She did still want to get married today.

“Don’t you dare…” Callie growled warningly. “We need to figure out who did this so I can kill them.”

“No, it - I’m not - it looks good!” Arizona stammered nervously, unconsciously running both hands through her own hair and breathing in a sigh of relief at finding both sides were even and the same length they’d been the night before. Callie just shot her a malevolent glare. “It can look good,” Arizona corrected herself rapidly, reaching up with one hand to curl the uncut hair up to the new, short layer. “We can get it evened out and it’ll be completely sexy,” she earnestly promised.

Callie’s furious expression softened at the look in Arizona’s eyes. That look didn’t lie. “I’m still going to kill whoever did this,” she declared stubbornly as Arizona let her hair drop.

“Here,” the blonde offered, pulling a elastic hair tie off her nightstand. Callie huffed in frustration as the shorter length immediately escaped her usual low ponytail and fell in her face. “And I’ll back you no matter what, but I really don’t want our first round of married sex to be a conjugal visit.”

Still grumpy, Callie kissed her quickly and stood from the bed, pulling on a robe. “They’d never catch me.”

Arizona rolled off of her side of the bed with a laugh. “No, probably not, but it is completely fixable. And it will look sexy as hell,” she promised, already able to picture it, her mouth watering at the mental image.

Callie sent her a smirk over her shoulder as she surveyed their bedroom for anything that might help them figure out what the hell had happened. She couldn’t fight a dismayed groan when she found scissors and a large clump of her hair in their bathroom sink. Arizona succeeded in containing her laughter though, giving her a sympathetic sigh. “You promise it’ll look hot?”

“Oh my God, yes!” Arizona moaned appreciatively.

Surprised by the fervent answer, Callie’s eyebrows rose, pleased. “Do you want to go to the salon with me, or should I go alone and surprise you at the wedding?”

Blue eyes lit up. “Surprise me, please!” she requested happily. “Though I make no promises not to tear your dress off before we make it down the aisle.”

Callie laughed, grateful to find ibuprofen in their medicine cabinet and pouring eight into her hand, offering it to Arizona. The blonde plucked up four and swallowed them dry, shaking her head furiously to try and clear it. “Good thing you’re going down the aisle first,” Callie teased. “But I swear to God, if you move before I get there, I will kick your butt!”

The change in tone was sharp, but Arizona just threw her arms around Callie from behind, squeezing her gently, not sure how her stomach was feeling in the midst of her hangover. “Calliope, if you’re suggesting that I could possibly leave you at the alter, that will not be happening.” She nipped her earlobe in rebuke. “I’m the marriage that’s going to stick,” she promised earnestly, voice low. “I m not going to be able to promise I’ll be able to stand still up there waiting on you though, so walk fast.”

Callie turned in her arms, heart feeling too full. This woman was absolutely amazing. And was all hers. “I love you,” she said quietly, eyes locking on the blue depths that she loved so much. “And I so can’t wait to be your wife.”

“Today!” Arizona happily reminded her. She leaned in to softly kiss her, hand in her hair. Finding the short locks again broke them apart as they both laughed. “Should we look for clues somewhere else? Maybe someone else knows something.”

Callie scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Yeah, I doubt that, babe. You were the least drunk person out last night.”

“Well, I don’t know what happened to your hair,” Arizona assured her. “But you weren’t with me all night. You danced with most of our guests. And a lot of the bar’s guests. Maybe you lost a bet…”

Callie looked around their room again, the whirlwind of scattered clothes and the wildly rumpled sheets of their bed. “We obviously had sex after we got home…”

“And before we got home,” Arizona chimed in with a smug smirk.

“And before,” Callie’s grin matched her lover’s, “but since we clearly did it again once we got up here, my question is how did you not notice that a significant amount of my hair was just gone?” she questioned teasingly.

Arizona blushed immediately and uncharacteristically. “I don’t remember being especially focused on your hair, babe, sorry.”

Callie gave her a reassuring wink, kissing her quickly. “It’s okay. I wasn’t paying attention to your hair at all either.”

“Except for pulling on it,” Arizona pretended to complain as she opened their bedroom door, the blonde jumping back as a man she belatedly recognized as Mark Sloan fell backwards as the door he was leaning on was removed. There was a loud slapping sound as Arizona clapped a hand over her eyes in a heartbeat. “Calliope, is he naked?” She was an almost married lesbian woman and she should not have to see a naked male ass today of all days.

Callie averted her eyes, kicking the other surgeon with one foot to wake him up. “Sloan!” she barked sharply when he didn’t move immediately. “Cover your ass up!”

There was noise from the bathroom across the hall and Aria stumbled into the doorway in her underwear. “Callie! You found Mark! Thank you!”

The elder Torres caught her sister by the elbow as the clearly still inebriated woman started to join the naked man on the floor. “Nope, you’re coming with us. We need coffee,” Callie declared, shoving Mark again with her foot against his ribs. She regretted it when he rolled over onto his back, reaching back to get Arizona’s hand and guide her down the hall. “You’re going to want to keep your eyes closed, sweetheart,” she advised, leading Arizona and Aria down the hall, ignoring her sister’s whine of protest at leaving the nude Plastic surgeon.

Arizona dropped her hand from her eyes to go downstairs, gaping at the mess and mass of people in their living room. Cristina and Meredith were sprawled across each other on the couch, a pile of blankets and pillows on the other side of the room showing where someone else had slept. Arizona could only hope that Alex had kept whoever he’d brought home up in his room. There were a few more of the fifth year residents sleeping on their floor in between a mess of empty liquor bottles, but none of them were terribly familiar at first glance, which just meant that they weren’t in Peds or Ortho.

Exchanging glances, Callie shrugged and they moved down the hall toward the swinging door to the kitchen where they could hear more movement. Tim jumped when Arizona flipped the lights on, covering his eyes with a groan. “Oh God,” he protested. “Turn it off!”

She obliged with a chuckle, glad to see that her automatic coffeemaker hadn’t been disrupted from doing its job and there was a full pot of coffee waiting for them. “Rough night, brother?” she asked wickedly, patting his bare shoulder as she passed him to get to the mugs in the cupboard. “What’s with all the men in my house having no clothes on?”

The hypothetical question made him twitch, looking down to make sure that he was actually wearing something. He gave Callie a sigh and a thumbs up when she arched a questioning eyebrow at him, snapping the elastic waist of his shorts with a relieved breath. “What happened to your hair?” he asked, eyes focusing on her. Arizona slapped his shoulder while Callie glared and Tim jumped again. “What did I say?” he protested, shielding his head protectively.

“We don’t know what happened to my hair,” Callie admitted. “I don’t guess you know what happened…”

“Nope,” he answered promptly. “I was kind of…busy last night.”

Arizona grimaced, handing a mug over to Callie. “Gross.”

Her brother just mocked her facial expression with impressive accuracy. “I don’t want to hear it from you, either one of you. Not after your little display on the dance floor last night. And the ladies room. And the car in the driveway.”

They were both blushing brightly and Arizona glanced around the kitchen where they were alone, just them and their respective siblings. “Where is Teddy, anyway?”

Tim nodded his head back, gesturing upstairs with his chin. “She’s in my room sleeping it off.” He blinked as a sudden thought occurred to him. “Did you check your camera yet? I bet it caught whatever happened to your hair, Callie. Grey, or Little Grey, or someone Grey was recording the whole night,” he informed them, mussing his hair with one hand and shuffling out of the room without saying anything else.

“Wake up in time for the wedding or I’m going to kill you!” Arizona called after him in warning, remembering too late that loud noises were friends to none of them right now, hearing groans from the living room floor and the pile of surgical residents.

“Ooh, babe, I love you, but please don’t yell,” Callie requested with a groan. “And let’s find that damn video camera. I need to know how this happened to my hair.”

Arizona was distracted by mixing sugar into her coffee, but she smiled. “Honey, I promise, it’s going to be hot. Trust me.” The mental image again sent a shiver down her spine. “I can find the camera if you just want to go to the salon,” she offered hopefully, shooting Callie a dimpled smile.

“You’re really eager to see me with short hair, aren’t you? You know, if you were bored with things the way they are you could have just said something…”

Arizona’s mouth dropped open in shock. “Calliope Torres, you take that back!” she demanded, brows furrowing. “Bored? Who could be bored?! I am not bored!” For God’s sake, they’d had sex three times yesterday! She was anything but bored.

Aria’s drunken giggling from the kitchen table reminded them suddenly of her presence and Arizona sent her fiancée a grumpy glare as the older Torres fixed a coffee for her sister. Coming back to the counter, Callie reached across to hook the front of Arizona’s shirt, pulling her forward to kiss her softly. Arizona surprised her every single day and she loved it. And if last night was any indication, her lover was most definitely not bored. But if the blonde thought she had something to prove, that had potential too.

“Not bored, Calliope,” Arizona insisted, hopping on her belly onto the counter to kiss her again, sucking on her tongue just to emphasize her point. Yeah, definitely had potential. “I’m going to find my camera,” she declared as the kiss ended, bouncing back down off the counter and scampering into the living room while Callie appreciated the clingy short shorts her fiancée was wearing.

“You’re not bored!” Aria noted loudly, slurring. “You like that ass, Calliope Ipha-” she had to pause, mouth working as the tried to sound out her sister’s middle name, “Iphigenia Torres!” 

She was talking too loudly and Callie groaned, closing her eyes and rubbing a hand over her face. It was undeniably true, but it wasn’t something she wanted her drunk sister announcing at her wedding (inevitably in front of the Colonel), like she’d just announced her hated middle name. Hopefully everyone in the other room was still too drunk to be awake. She knew one person that would remember it though, no matter how many sexual favors she promised Arizona to forget she had ever heard the name. “Drink your coffee,” she ordered shortly. “Because you’re not going to my wedding if you’re going to be talking like that. Arizona’s parents are coming and you’re our entire family representation at the wedding, but not if you’re still sloppy drunk.”

Aria just grinned, waving her sister’s concern off. “Oh, please. I’ll be good to go by lunch.”

Callie glanced at the clock. “It’s ten to noon.” The wedding was at six. They had six hours before she was walking down the aisle to meet the love of her life.

“I got this,” insisted Aria confidently, throwing her coffee back like a shot. “So what are you going to do about your hair?”

Eyes narrowing, Callie grumbled under her breath at the reminder. “We’re going to the salon and get it fixed. After I find whoever cut it and kill them.”

“We, like you and wifey?” Aria asked with a laugh.

“No, she wants to be surprised. We is me and you,” clarified Callie. “So sober up.”

Arizona whooped in triumph from the living room, inciting another round of groans from their passed out guests. She offered her video camera to Callie as soon as she reappeared in the kitchen, the little smile on her mouth confirming louder than words that she had heard the name and was not going to forget it, either. “Found it!”

They were joined by a thankfully covered Mark Sloan and two new arrivals in the form of Owen Hunt and Derek Shepherd, Cristina and Meredith’s husbands. “Good morning, ladies,” Mark greeted them smoothly, grinning at Aria especially.

Rolling her eyes, Callie fetched one of Alex’s t-shirts from the dryer and tossed it to her sister to cover up with. She scanned through the first few hours of their party at a rapid pace, finding nothing strange until they got home so she slowed it down.

The commentary made it clear that Meredith Grey had the camera, the resident providing her own insight while she recorded Arizona and Lexie Grey, her own younger half sister, dancing wildly together. Then she left them to tour the house, giving room by room commentary on events. Teddy and Tim were talking close in the kitchen over glasses of whiskey, which she declared boring and quickly left them. There were obvious noises coming from behind Alex’s door, but Meredith didn’t open it, just turned the camera on herself to dispense her drunken opinions on her findings, appearing completely earnest.

Mark and Aria having sex in the bathroom drew a longer look (and requisite groans of protest from the viewers on the other side of the footage, Callie desperately fast forwarding) until the Plastic surgeon kicked the door closed in her face. Turning to the room across the hall, Meredith followed the sound of muffled yelping into the master bedroom to find Callie and Cristina in the bathroom. Callie was staring in horror at her chopped hair while Cristina waved her scissors and the handful of hair in victory.

Stopping the playback, Callie yelled, “Yang!” They could all hear the crash in the living room as Cristina or Meredith pitched off the couch. Owen and Derek exchanged simultaneously amused and worried glances, both well familiar with their wives’ antics when they were drunk. Tequila was dangerous around their so called ‘twisted sisters.’

“What?!” came the call back from the other room. Arizona was smirking, the men looking intrigued as they waited for Callie’s justice for her slaughtered hair.

“You’re on Ortho rotation for the next month!” Callie declared, Arizona and Derek blinking at the supposed lightness of her punishment.

“That’s it?” Arizona asked, disappointed. She’d been hoping for something more physical, like a cage fight. Yang was scrappy, but all her money was on Callie.

Owen laughed suddenly. “Oh, believe me, that’s the worst punishment you could give Cristina,” he stated, clapping a hand to Callie’s shoulder in approval. “You’ve just made my home life hell for a month, but I don’t blame you. And I’m sorry about your hair.”


	2. Chapter 2

“You need to chill out, sis,” Tim advised seriously, smiling at the pacing blonde while he messed with his dress uniform.

“Don’t tell me to chill out!” Arizona growled at him, constantly moving. “I’m getting married in thirty minutes! You have no idea what this feels like!”

His eyes were focused on his shirt, fiddling with his shirt buttons. “Nope, I don’t. I just know what it feels like to watch my sister be in love with a great girl who loves her,” Arizona looked over at him, “And I know that it’s funny to see you panicking about this now. This is the easy part, Arizona. Tomorrow, and the rest of your life, that’s the stuff that matters,” he glanced up to grin at her, their eyes locking, “Today, we all just get to check out your woman in a hot dress.”

Instead of reacting defensively, Arizona just grinned back. “Have you seen her? Does she look amazing? I know she does because she’s beautiful, but…”

Laughing, Tim nodded. “She looks amazing,” he confirmed, rolling his eyes. “Can you help me with this already?”

She finally stopped moving, crossing the room to stand in front of him, both hands working on the brass buttons of his jacket. “I know you know how to do this. Don’t they drill you on how to do this? But thanks for giving me something to do instead of freak out.”

“Well, I’m going to have to get out there, so you just have to not freak out on Dad, okay?” requested the Marine, prompting a confused frown from the bride.

“Wait, where are you going? You’re standing up with me, right?”

He nodded reassuringly. “Of course I am. And Aria is actually standing up with Callie, too. But Dad’s walking you down the aisle. Callie doesn’t have anybody to walk her down. And I know she’s badass and hardcore and everything, but I thought I’d offer my arm. If you don’t think she’ll mind…”

Touched, Arizona suddenly realized that she was tearing up. “Shit, I can’t cry, Tim!”

“Okay, okay, well, we could ask that Mark guy to do it,” Tim suggested quickly, knowing that the suggestion would get Arizona off of emotional and back on panicky. Sure enough, blue eyes glared malevolently at him. “Hey, this is a happy day, little sister!” he reminded her. “Don’t look at me like that. You think Callie will be cool with me walking her down the aisle?”

She shook her head, smiling lovingly at her brother. “I think she’ll love it. Thank you.”

Tim just shrugged. “She’s family. And she makes you happier than I’ve ever seen you.”

Abruptly Arizona hugged him, his jacket half buttoned between them. “I’m glad you’re here,” she sighed.

“Where else would I be when my favorite sister is getting married?”

“I’m your only sister,” she reminded him, burying her head in his chest as she laughed. “But I’m still glad you’re here.”

“Well, then, you’re my favorite person, but let’s not quibble,” he joked, kissing the top of her head and wrapping both arms around her. “The only way I’m not at your wedding is if I’m dead.” She punched his side, his uniform coat starched and stiff under her hand, and he quickly corrected himself, “I wouldn’t have missed it, Arizona. Not for anything.”

Fighting back tears, Arizona waved to stop his words as she stepped back, not wanting to cry. “Tim…”

“And you look beautiful,” he added before she could shush him, choking lightly when she suddenly tweaked the tight collar of his dress uniform jacket. “Callie’s a lucky woman.”

“Tim!” she said again, wiping under her eyes carefully. “You need to go or I’m going to cry. I can’t cry! You go find Callie and send Dad in.” There was no chance that she’d cry if she was alone with her father. That wasn’t how they worked together. She could get emotional with Tim, who was undeniably the best brother in the world, but their father, the Colonel, was a different story.

He gave her a charming grin and winked. “You got it.” One hand gestured around them at her dress and the setting of the wedding. “And you got this.”

The Colonel was waiting outside and the two men exchanged looks, both proud in their own way. “How’s she doing?” Daniel asked, nodding toward the door. They both had their white hats pinned under their elbows, their uniforms sharp and crisp, patent shoes shiny and perfect.

“She’s jumpy, but she’ll be fine. She’s just eager.” Tim clapped a hand to his father’s shoulder. “Do you happen to know where the other bride might be? I wanted to ask her something.”

“Your mother is with her,” the older man informed him, pointing down the hall. “I was supposed to watch your sister and make sure she didn’t sneak out somewhere where she could find Callie.”

Tim grinned. Arizona totally would sneak out to get a peek at Callie. “Well, if you could watch my post, Colonel, I’m going to talk to Callie and maybe Mom could watch the hall,” he suggested.

His father matched his grin. “Very good, Corporal.” He surprised Tim with an outstretched hand. “You’re a good man, Timothy. Your sister, she’s a good woman. Both of you are good people.”

Shaking his hand, Tim swallowed hard. It was rare that the Colonel was emotional, even with his children. He could be severe with his soldiers but he’d always walked a different line with Tim and Arizona. His love for them was apparent every day, but he was only infrequently clearly emotional and nostalgic like he was today. But his daughter’s wedding day seemed appropriate. “Thank you, sir.”

He cleared his throat as he knocked on the door at the other end of the hall, his mother greeting him in clear surprise. “Timothy! You look so handsome!” She pulled him into a hug. Barbara Robbins respected the uniform except when it kept her from hugging her men. “How’s Arizona?”

“She’s great, Mom,” he assured her, seeing Callie look over at the sound of her partner’s name. “Eager to get down the aisle.” He pulled back from the hug gently, letting his mother swipe the lipstick she’d left on his cheek. “I wanted to talk to Callie for a minute if I could?” Nodding, Callie waved him in and Barbara let herself out. “Where’s Aria?” Tim asked, glancing around the room. “She’s standing up with you, isn’t she?”

Callie laughed and he could hear her nerves. “Yeah, she’ll be up there, but the prep work stuff is not her scene. She’s better with the wining and dining.”

“She can drink after last night?” he asked in disbelief. “Wow. I don’t know if I have more respect…”

She laughed again, the sound more genuine. “Yeah, don’t worry about trying to figure out what to think about Aria. She’ll be out of here like a cyclone by next week anyway.” Both hands brushed over her hips and sides, straightening the fall of her dress. “You wanted to talk to me, though? Is everything okay? Is Arizona…?”

“She’s fine. She looks great.” He smiled, curling one arm across his body to mess with his hat. “She can’t wait to see you.”

Callie’s shoulders slumped in a relieved breath. “Good, because I am dying to see her. I’m going crazy trying to picture her in her dress.”

“I promise, she’s going to blow you away.”

“Then what’s up?” Callie questioned, feeling nervous. “Everything’s okay?”

Tim straightened his shoulders, military posture. “I have a favor to ask you, actually.” He tried a smile when she sent him an unsure nod. “You’re the reason I’m here, Callie. Here - in general, not here - at my sister’s wedding. Because of course I’m going to be at my sister’s wedding, but you’re the reason I’m not here in a wheelchair…”

A laugh from Callie made him pause. “Arizona does that too,” she said with a sweet smile. “She rambles when she’s nervous.” Her love was all over her words, her voice. Even someone who’d never met them would know that she was talking about the person she loved.

“Well, she is my little sister.” He paced shortly, working up his nerve. This was a personal thing he was asking for and he wouldn’t hurt Callie for the world. “She’s my sister and she’s got all these people, you know…”

Callie blinked, swallowing. “And I don’t…” she finished hoarsely. She closed her eyes, leaning her head back on her neck and feeling bobby pins poking her from where her hair was styled. “She’s worth it, Tim. I love her… more than anything. And my family won’t accept that because she’s a woman.” She looked back at him, eyes locking. “And it breaks my heart that they might never get to know her, see how happy she makes me. But it’s their loss. Because I get to be with her. For the rest of our lives, I get her.”

Tim had to clear his throat, choked up. “Not that I did, but if I had any question that you were the right girl for Arizona, it’s gone now.” Callie smiled, teary. “Callie, I wanted to ask you - would you do me the honor of letting me walk you down the aisle today?” he requested gruffly, voice thick.

Callie’s mouth dropped open as she sucked in a breath, not expecting that. “Tim…” He mustered his charming Robbins smile, the same smile Arizona wore so well. “It would be my honor,” she managed, near tears. “Thank you.” She blinked and tears fell.

“It’s not my style normally, but I’m going to hug you now,” he warned her. “So don’t get makeup on my uniform, because this thing is a bitch to clean.”

It succeeded in making her laugh and she swatted his chest when he hugged her. “Tim, you don’t know how much this means to me.”

“Hey, you’re the reason I can walk anywhere,” he reminded her. “Taking you to Arizona is the least I can do for you.”

“You don’t owe me anything,” Callie said, resting her head against his chest and playing with the buttons of his jacket. “You look very handsome. Tell me again how good Arizona looks. Is her dress pretty?”

Tim rolled his eyes. “I might be hugging you, but I’m not discussing my sister’s dress. I draw the line at dresses. Just trust me when I say that you’re going to be happy.”

“She could wear a garbage bag and I’d be happy,” Callie declared immediately, earnest. “Is it time yet?”

Even as she spoke, there was a knock on the door. Tim stepped back with a smile, waiting for her to wipe her eyes again before he opened the door to find Aria. “Sis, they’re ready for you.” She looked again at Tim in his uniform. “And aren’t we supposed to be up at the front?”

“I’m going to walk Callie down the aisle. But you’ll be lined up on her side and I’ll just go up to stand with Arizona,” Tim explained, nodding her back down the hall. “We’re right behind you.” He checked the hall cautiously for his sister before he turned and offered his arm gallantly to Callie. “Shall we?”

“Please, let’s!” Callie took his arm with a smile, kissing his cheek.

He ducked his head into his cover as they exited into the sun, adjusting the brim of his hat with the white glove of his uniform keeping it from getting smudged. The pathway to the aisle was shielded with an archway of flowers and Callie could hear the music, the sound driving her heart rate higher.

“Don’t trip, don’t trip, don’t trip,” she murmured as they started toward the aisle, Tim smiling as he looked sideways at her.

“You’re not going to trip,” he promised. “Look.”

Both of them looked up the aisle and Callie’s smile grew impossibly. Arizona was breathtaking. Absolutely stunning. And she hadn’t even looked past her eyes.

“You do actually have to walk, though,” Tim whispered, tall and straight at her side.

They covered the aisle without stopping, Tim nodding to each of them before he took his spot across from Aria. The music faded out as the bows lifted from their strings, Arizona’s smile holding everything Callie wanted from her life. All she wanted was to make her smile like that every day for the rest of their lives together.

Lacing her fingers through Arizona’s, Callie knew her smile was just as happy. There was no way it couldn’t be. After everything that had happened since she’d moved to Seattle, everything they’d been through, they were still here - standing across an aisle in front of each other to make vows to spend the rest of their lives together.

Arizona mouthed ‘I love you’ across to Callie, squeezing her hands to keep herself from diving forward and kissing her. Because almost as much as saying her vows, she wanted to kiss her. She could barely believe that they’d seen each other not three hours ago. It had been time well spent, though. Calliope looked utterly gorgeous.

They each had to concentrate to recite their vows, caught up in each other. Then the proceedings paused so they could each say their own parts. Arizona just prayed she could still speak. As long as Callie heard her, that’s what mattered.

“You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever known, Calliope. And it seems impossible, but I love you more every day. And no matter what happens, I know our life is going to be amazing because we’ll be together.” Arizona could feel herself choking up and finished, “I take you, Calliope Torres, to be my wife. I love you.” Her voice was quiet, but everyone could hear her as she made her pledge. It was simple, but it said everything. Being this miraculous woman’s wife was everything she wanted. Tim reached forward to hand her the ring, smiling as he felt the normally steady fingers of his surgeon sister tremble against his.

Callie blinked, staring as Arizona slid her wedding band into place on her finger. Then it was her turn to speak and she gathered her breath. “Arizona, I never could have imagined that that first night we met was going to lead us here, but I’m so glad that it did. I’m grateful for everything in my life that got me here, standing across from you. I choose you to be the one with whom I spend my life.” Her own vow was just as simple, but clear. Arizona was all she wanted, the only person she wanted to share her life with. “I love you.”

Blue eyes filled with tears as Callie slid the band onto her finger, Tim leading the cheers as his sister kissed her wife for the first time. “I now pronounce you wife and wife…” The rest of the crowd cheered right along with him and Arizona threw the hand that wasn’t holding Callie’s up over her head in victory, both of them grinning eagerly.

Retreating back down the aisle, Arizona was practically dragging Callie at a run. “Are we in a hurry, honey?” the brunette asked, laughing.

“I need to kiss you again, and not how I kiss you in front of my parents,” Arizona offered in explanation. Her blue eyes were blazing when she sent a look over her shoulder at her wife, the thought of their change in status making her knees weak. “And I know it sounds weird, but I need to get my hands on your hair.”

Callie happily grinned. “Isn’t it sexy?!” she asked rhetorically, pleased with how her last minute haircut had turned out.

“Told you so,” declared Arizona smugly. “You are,” she sighed breathlessly, “just the most gorgeous woman in the world.” Turning to kiss her quickly even as they kept moving, she laughed, giddy. “My wife is the most beautiful woman in the world.”

Callie cut her off with another kiss, more slow but deep. They could get interrupted anytime, but she didn’t care. Because she was kissing her wife. Both hands skimmed over the blonde’s sides, over her ribs and down to her hips. “You’re so beautiful,” she murmured into a kiss, feeling Arizona’s answering smile against her lips.

“You are.”

Tim’s voice interjected, “You both are.” Arizona huffed, leaning her body into Callie’s, her forehead on her shoulder. “And I know you’re going to be pissed, but I’m going to insist that I get a dance with my new sister.”

Immediately the blonde scoffed, lifting her head. “Oh, we’ll see about that, brother!”

*****

“Now, it’s time for the ‘father-daughter dance.’” 

The announcement from the DJ made Arizona’s body go stiff, her eyes falling closed. “Calliope, baby, I promise, I told them that we weren’t doing that…”

“And I told them you were,” Callie countered, taking a small step back. It hurt that her father wasn’t there, that he wouldn’t accept her, them, but it had been her decision not to call her parents during all the wedding planning. They’d made themselves perfectly clear years earlier. And her father showing up for some gesture, even on her wedding day, wasn’t going to solve anything. But Arizona and the Colonel deserved a dance. She lifted one of their joined hands to kiss her wife’s knuckles. “I’ll sit this one out. It’s okay,” she promised, offering her a sincere, genuine smile. “I get the next one though, okay?”

Arizona’s expression softened and she pressed forward again, one hand sliding across Callie’s cheek as she pulled her into a kiss. “Thank you…”

Giving her a wink, Callie backed away and offered her partner’s hand to the Colonel, blinking in surprise when he kissed her cheek before taking his daughter’s hand. Arizona’s eyes stayed locked on her as she stepped backward again to give them room, Callie surprised to bump into a solid body before she could vacate the dance floor. Turning and looking up, she was almost not surprised to see Tim behind her, his signature charming grin on his face.

“Callie, may I have this dance?” he requested politely, looking dashing in his uniform and seemingly determined to step up for her wherever he could today.

Tim gave Callie a pleased smile as she took his white gloved hand, his other hand on her hip steering her into a turn. “Told you I’d get a dance with her,” he teased as Arizona and the Colonel passed them, Callie rolling her eyes at him.

“You just couldn’t resist poking at her, could you?”

“She’s my sister,” he reasoned, shrugging broad shoulders.

Callie laughed, throwing her head back. Arizona and the Colonel were talking quietly as they danced. “We just got married, Tim. Have mercy? Today? For me?” she added a wide smile that she knew hadn’t been off her face for more than a minute since she’d exchanged vows with Arizona, “Your new sister-in-law?”

Huffing exaggeratedly, Tim rolled his eyes and spun her. “Fine. For you, I’ll give her one day off from being the annoying big brother.” Callie just laughed. Arizona adored her older brother. “You know what this means though, right? I’m your big brother now too, Cal.”

She kept laughing. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah!” he confirmed happily. “You’re married in now. You’re stuck with all of us Robbins, for life.” Their eyes met and he grinned. “Any regrets?”

Callie slapped his shoulder, spotting Arizona behind him. “Never.”

“That’s what I like to hear.”

Shifting her eyes back to him, Callie lifted one eyebrow. “Isn’t it a little late for the ‘hurt her and I’ll hurt you’ talk? We’re already married.”

Tim just blinked, still grinning. “I don’t have to say it. I know you won’t hurt her.”

Callie’s smile went soft. “You know that?” She wouldn’t, of course, but his confidence was making her curious.

The Marine nodded, sure. “I do. Because I’ve never seen her with anyone like she is with you. You make her happy, and she’s pretty naturally happy, so that’s impressive,” Callie’s smile grew, “And I’ve seen the two of you together for a while now, at work, at home, and I see how you are with each other. You’re just as crazy about her as she is about you,” there was no denying that and Callie just chuckled, “What you guys have, I just don’t see either one of you letting it go.”

“Not a chance,” Callie confirmed earnestly, the applause at the end of the song drowning her out. She and Tim separated to join in, clapping for Arizona and the Colonel, the next song faster paced and refilling the dance floor.

Arizona kissed her father’s cheek and joined her spouse and her sibling, swatting his arm. “My wife! You get your own!” 

Callie laughed, leaning over to kiss her cheek. “Babe, play nice. Wedding day truce on the sibling bickering thing, okay? Me and Tim already negotiated it.”

“What else have the two of you been talking about?” Arizona questioned curiously, unable to help herself. Neither of them would hide things from her, but she couldn’t help wondering what they’d been chatting about, laughing about while they’d danced.

“Subtle, sis,” scoffed Tim, smirking. “I’m going to get a drink. Callie, thank you for the dance.” He bowed gallantly, giving her a dimpled grin as he walked away.

The Latina smiled at Arizona but didn’t speak, just cupped her face in both hands and kissed her, licking softly at her lips before the blonde let her in. They were still and motionless in the middle of the dance floor. But it was their wedding and they could do whatever they wanted. So Callie kissed her in the center of a crowd and Arizona let it happen, wrapping both arms around her partner’s hips and holding on.

“We talked about you and how I’m never letting you go,” Callie breathed the answer to her question against her lips. “He’s all for it. Says I’m stuck with you and your family for life.”

Moaning, Arizona kissed her again passionately, pulling her in firmly so that there was no space between their bodies. “We need to get out of the middle of this room,” she ground out, needing to be alone with Callie.

“It’s a tent,” countered the Ortho surgeon with a laugh. “Do you want to dance?” She knew exactly what Arizona wanted to do and it wasn’t dancing. But she knew that they would be the first people noticed if they tried to slip out. And they still had to cut the cake. She wanted sex, but she also wanted cake. Obviously she wanted one more than the other, but at this point she had a much better chance of getting cake than sex and would have to settle. “One dance and we’ll do the cake and whatever else we have left to do and we can go home,” she bargained, coaxing Arizona through a spin under her arm to start their dance.

“It’s our first night being married, Calliope,” said Arizona with a laugh. “We’re not going home!”

“Where are we going? Because I’m off tomorrow but that’s it. The Chief is expecting us back at work on Monday.” And there wasn’t really time for a real honeymoon because of it. Oh well. They’d just have to make the time later, maybe go back to Spain, she reflected hopefully. For tonight, she didn’t care where they were as long as they were together and there was a bed. Because as much as she wanted to make love to her wife, weddings were by their nature stressful and she was still a tiny bit hungover from their previous evening, so she also desperately wanted to simply sleep. And sex they could (and did) have everywhere, but she needed a bed to sleep with Arizona. And honestly, she wouldn’t mind spending their first day as a married couple at home in their own bed. But Arizona seemed to have a different idea.

“Nowhere really far away because of the time crunch, but I did find this cute little B and B about an hour from here… if you want to go…”

Callie spun her again but caught her before she finished her turn, pulling her back flush against herself. “Arizona Robbins, I absolutely want to go to some cute B and B with you,” she stated, keeping her voice low. Arizona’s hair was in curled waves under a band of rings, but the spot behind her ear that made her go weak in the knees happened to be visible from where Callie was holding her and she was entirely unable to resist nudging the curls out of the way so she could suck on the flesh there.

Arizona had to bite her lip to keep from moaning out loud. “You said we can leave after cake, right?” she pleaded, reaching one hand back to comb through cropped black locks. The other hand was clinging to Callie’s arm at her waist. “I’m starving. Let’s do cake!”

“You just want to go have sex,” Callie corrected her knowingly, smirking against her wife’s skin. This gorgeous, amazing woman was her wife. So freaking awesome! The thought made her happy beyond words.

“You caught me,” agreed Arizona with a laugh, her voice husky with want. “I’m hungry for cake and horny for my wife. But it’s our wedding reception, so both of those things are perfectly okay,” she said matter-of-factly, wriggling her body into Callie’s eagerly. She was satisfied as long as she was in these arms, cake or no cake, sex now or sex later.

Both of them looked to the edge of the dance floor when someone started clinking glasses, the rest of the crowd picking it up. “I think they want us to kiss,” Callie commented, not hating that idea. They had some smart guests at their wedding. A hand on her jaw turned Arizona’s head to meet her lips, grateful that their height differences made it easy to tuck her chin on the blonde’s bare shoulder and reach her mouth. Arizona moaned into the kiss, her eyes falling closed, and Callie could feel the humming under the hand on Arizona’s jaw as she sucked on her bottom lip with her own pair before pulling back. “So… cake?”

“Cake,” Arizona confirmed breathlessly, stealing another quick, soft kiss. “I love you,” she whispered. “But I really am hungry, so please don’t smash it in my face?” requested Arizona at a more normal volume as they crossed the floor toward the towering cake. She smiled at the topper depicting the two of them, blond and brunette brides leaning into each other. Feeling her stomach growling, Arizona wondered if it was audible over the music.

Callie clearly heard it or saw it or sensed it, a crooked smile gracing her lips as she laced her fingers with Arizona’s and coaxed them around the fancy silver spatula thing. They got their piece onto a plate without a mess, Callie holding the plate steady so they could each scoop up bites in their hands. Arizona’s blue gaze was begging her to just feed it to her without funny business, but Callie smirked and let the moment extend as she lifted her fingers to the blonde’s full lips.

Arizona was slow-moving and cautious as she took Callie’s fingers between her lips, gratefully sucking the icing off of them, free hand holding Callie’s hand steady while Callie took the cake from her simultaneously. Letting her slip free, Arizona smiled. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she whispered as their guests cheered and Callie hauled her in for a kiss.

“Here.” Callie handed her the plate with the rest of the slice. “Take it,” she coaxed, smiling as Arizona took a big bite with a fork and swiping the icing off the corner of her mouth. She sucked the sweetness off of her thumb and took the next bite Arizona offered her. “Mmh, I forgot how good it was.”

“Good cake,” Arizona confirmed around a mouthful, fork in her mouth as she pulled Callie with her away from the cake table so everyone else could get some for themselves. “We get the leftovers of that, right?” the blonde asked, sucking icing off of her fork.

Callie laughed. “Sure, I guess. If there’s anything left after our family and friends get done devouring it.”

Blue eyes blinked at her, clearly surprised, Arizona’s mouth full. She swallowed, coughing lightly. “You said family - you said ‘our family…’”

Nodding, Callie licked her lips. “You’re my wife. You’ll share your family with me, won’t you? Because Tim already called being my new big brother.” And she didn’t actually have any family of her own to speak of. She was actively not thinking about that on her wedding day, though. Of course, the occasion made it more difficult to ignore than on a typical day.

Arizona offered her the last bite of the cake, kissing the corner of her mouth as Callie took it. “Calliope, you’re my family. You were my family a long time before today, though. And they’re our family. Of course they are. They all love you.”

Callie blinked, her vision going blurry. “One more dance and we’re going,” she declared. “How far away is the place again? Are you going to be good to drive tonight?” There was alcohol at the reception but after the night before, neither one of them had been drinking. Callie wasn’t sure she’d had more than the single glass of champagne used during the toast.

“It’s only an hour away,” Arizona answered. “And I’m totally good to drive, Calliope.”

Feeling the smile break across her face, Callie shook her head. “Of course you are. Stupid question.” Arizona just grinned and she couldn’t resist kissing her. She still tasted like wedding cake. “Have I ever told you that I love that you call me that?”

“That’s your name, Calliope,” she said it again, mouth dragging against juicy lips. There was something about Callie’s bottom lip that just made her want to bite it.

“I know. When anyone else says it, I hate it, it doesn’t sound right, but when you say it…” Brown eyes slid over her face, tracing every detail.

Arizona drew in a breath, bumping her nose against Callie’s, a smile on her lips. “When I say it?” she asked, coaxing her toward an explanation.

Breathing deep, Callie met her eyes. “You say my name, the way you say it, Arizona, it sets me on fire. Everything feels warm - my skin, the air, everything.”

Blue irises darkened right in front of her as she watched, Arizona’s breath shaky, her throat dry. Callie licked her lips as the blonde moved in, a whine escaping when Arizona bypassed her lips to curl both arms over her shoulders, rising up on her toes to put her lips right next to Callie’s ear. “Calliope…”

The soft whisper was her undoing, Callie’s eyes slamming closed to preserve her self-control. “We’re going,” she declared hoarsely.

“What about my dance?” Arizona questioned in the same breathy whisper. “One last dance at our wedding, Calliope.”

The dance passed in a haze, their friends and family all lining up for their exit, and then they were alone again, changing out of their dresses for the drive. Teddy had promised to make sure everything got back to (and cleaned up at) their house and the caterers had made them plates for dinner, no couple ever getting a chance to eat during their own wedding.

It struck Callie again as they got into Arizona’s Jeep and closed the doors, cutting off the outside noise. They were married. For the rest of their lives, Arizona Robbins was her wife. And she was currently talking, the words going straight in one ear and out the other without comprehension.

Dimples popped as the blonde smirked, shaking her head and already eating her dinner, the plate balanced in her lap. “We’ve been married for three hours and you’re already not listening when I talk to you,” she teased. “And I’m hungry, and already eating,” Arizona continued around a mouthful, “so we’re going to sit here until I finish this,” she slurped on her soda and swallowed, “and then we’ll go.”

“What was the alternative?” Callie questioned with a laugh, blushing in the dark.

“We go now and you attempt to feed me while I’m driving,” answered Arizona.

Callie just rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound dangerous at all!” Leaning over the center console, she kissed Arizona’s cheek with a smack, lingering to trail softer kisses across her jaw and down her neck. “We’ve only been married three hours, Arizona. And we are not giving up our honeymoon for anything, much less going back to the hospital because we got in some stupid accident,” she declared, sitting back in her seat when Arizona shuddered, her fork frozen halfway between her plate and her mouth.

“You’re a tease! And I’m eating! Do you want me to choke?!”

“Of course not,” Callie said warmly, smiling across the car at her. “Eat your dinner and I’ll be good,” she promised, keeping her hands dutifully in her lap. Now that they were alone, in the darkness of the car, and the quiet, she was undeniably sleepy, leaning her head against the headrest behind her and letting her eyes slide closed as she listened to Arizona eat her dinner.

At the same time, Arizona was watching her. Callie Torres was a beautiful woman and when her face relaxed in sleep, she was somehow even more stunning. She couldn’t bear to wake her, finishing her dinner and turning on her seat to find her jacket in the backseat. Leaning over, Arizona made sure Callie was buckled safely into her seatbelt and tucked the jacket around her before she started the car. They had a long, long life to live together, she wasn’t going to take any chances with that.

Callie woke up just as they were pulling up to the huge house where they were going to be celebrating their honeymoon. “Perfect timing,” Arizona said with a smirk. “I didn’t want to have to wake you up and get smacked for my trouble…”

Brown eyes just rolled in her direction. “You think you’re so cute, don’t you? You’re not in my pants yet, Robbins,” she countered, matching her lover’s teasing tone.

“You wouldn’t…” declared Arizona, working hard to keep her voice detached. She wanted sex, damn it. And it was their honeymoon. No matter that they’d had an impressive amount of sex only the day before. She could never have enough of Callie.

Callie held the serious expression for about three seconds, twice as long as she expected to be able to hold it, reaching across the car to drag Arizona in by the front of her shirt. “Of course I wouldn’t,” she promised, laughing. One eyebrow arched, her eyes drawn down to her wife’s lips. “I got some sleep though, so the question is, are you going to be able to keep up?”

The challenge was clear and Arizona captured her lips firmly, dragging her bottom lip between her teeth the way she’d been dying to all night. “Oh, I’ll keep up, Calliope,” she promised between kisses. Neither one had gotten much sleep the night before, but she’d drank decidedly less. And she had almost unbelievable motivation.

But neither one wanted their first time after their wedding to be in the car and they pulled back on some unspoken signal, both breathing harder. “Inside,” Callie requested, grinning.

Arizona wordlessly agreed by reaching behind her for their suitcase, scrambling out of her door and dragging the luggage with her. She did wait at the front of the car for Callie, taking her free hand and escorting her toward the door by way of the wide staircase leading up to the porch.

It was late but Arizona had apparently made arrangements about that with the manager and she fished a key ring out of a potted plant and let them in, leading the way up two flights of stairs to the very top of the house. The bedroom behind the door was expansive, a large, open floor, furnished rustically, and boasting an impressively large bed in the center.

Arizona grinned as she looked sideways at Callie. “What do you think?”

“Oh, we can work with that,” the brunette declared confidently, hands already under Arizona’s shirt, pushing the fabric up as she moved her touch along her sides and her ribs. As soon as the shirt was clear she was kissing her, though more slowly than she had at the reception. She wanted her wife, always did, but they had the rest of their lives. They could take their time, savor their first time as wives.

The bed’s quilt was cool on her back as Arizona slid up the bed under Callie’s hands, kisses trailing down her body. “Wait,” she gasped out when the touches moved to her skirt, stopping her even as she helpfully kicked off her own shoes. “Together, you, up here,” she directed in between breathless panting, her own hands dragging Callie’s shirt up and over her head. The first touch of skin on skin made her breath tremble. “I love you,” she whispered, lifting her head to kiss her.

Callie dodged her lips to smile down at her, elbows braced on either side of Arizona’s head. “I love you too.” She said it plainly, her loving smile unable to be restrained. She got to do this every day for the rest of her life. She got to say that every day. To her wife, who just happened to be the sweetest, most generous, most loving person she’d ever known. And she got her all to herself for the rest of their lives.

So freaking awesome.

But now, she had a wife to make love to. Arizona’s next kiss was harder, passion a little less controlled. Callie adapted willingly. Because whatever Arizona wanted, Arizona would get from her. And not just in bed, but anything that would make her happy, would make her smile like she’d been smiling all day, Callie got to do it for her, give it to her. And that made her the luckiest person in the world.

Feeling Callie’s distraction, Arizona leaned back, both of them breathing hard. “What? What is it?” One hand rested on the Latina’s chest, able to feel the rapid heartbeat under her palm. “If you’re too tired…” she started to offer, the words drowned out by Callie’s kiss.

“I’m in love with my wife,” Callie whispered, kissing her again. 

Arizona’s expression went soft, her smile sweet. “Promise to tell me that again in fifty years,” she requested, her own voice low.

Callie blinked, leaning forward on her elbows. “I’ll tell you that every day,” promised the brunette softly. She ducked her head, bumping their noses together. “I love you, Arizona Robbins.”

“I love you too,” said Arizona, pausing for a beat. “And I know we just got married and we’re on our honeymoon, sort of, but this is getting way mushy.”

Callie responded by dragging a tickling hand down her side, grinning as the blonde squirmed immediately, clapping a hand over her mouth to hold back her shriek of laughter. It was late and she didn’t want to wake up any of the other guests. “Sorry we’re so mushy,” teased Callie sarcastically. “I guess if we have to have hot sex, we have to.” Arizona grinned, biting her lip and nodding her head quickly. “Well, whatever my wife wants, my wife gets.”

The blonde moaned, dragging Callie down to her lips. “I like that idea,” she said in between kisses and giggling. “Let’s keep that going for a few years and see how we like that,” she suggested, moving against Callie’s hands on her.

“Years, huh?” asked Callie, lips dragging against her skin. Decades was more what she was thinking. The rest of her life and whatever came after. It was all Arizona’s already. “I can live with that.” She nuzzled into the blonde’s neck, tracing the pounding pulse down toward her chest. “Mmh, how come you’re not naked yet?” she asked, suddenly annoyed by the clothes in her way.

“How come you’re not naked yet?” countered Arizona, fingers in dark hair combing down to the ends of the new cropped length. It really was too sexy. And buried in her chest as it was, it was making her heart race even harder. If there was something Callie did that didn’t turn her on, she didn’t know what it was.

Still kissing down her chest, Callie declared, “We should be naked.” 

Callie’s hand pushed up toward her breast and it was like fire against her skin, making her suck in a breath at the sensation. “We should definitely be naked,” echoed the blonde breathlessly, back arching her body into Callie’s. She couldn’t say she was displeased when Callie (her wife, awesome), skipped her lips down to the flesh of her stomach, moving up her body. Hips jumped when the brunette’s free hand similarly hiked her skirt up, fingers walking across the front of her panties. “Calliope! Naked, please,” she gasped out. She wanted this but she wanted it to be more than Callie getting under her skirt.

The Latina flipping them made Arizona yelp, laughing as she realized the advantages of her new position. Callie’s hands were already pushing her skirt up again, sitting up to kiss her as she stripped it over her head, not the typical way she removed Arizona’s skirts, but effective. “Now we’re getting somewhere,” she said softly, stroking both hands down her sides and thriving in all the soft, smooth skin.

Arizona could just moan, tugging at the button of Callie’s pants. Both hands buried themselves back in dark hair when it finally gave, tugging her head back from where Callie was kissing her neck. Eyes locking, they paused, both breathless. “I want to make love to my wife,” Arizona whispered, breaking the silence after a beat. Warm hands slid down her back and found the waist of her panties, peeling them down her hips as much as she could.

Repositioning let them get the remaining clothing out of their way, each of them breathing deeply when it was just skin on skin, curves and angles fitting together like they’d been made to fit together. Fingers found their places on well practiced instinct, brown and blue eyes locked. There weren’t words, just breathing and hitches in breathing as they moved together.

And then it was bliss and still not being able to breathe and slightly sweaty skin that Arizona just couldn’t keep her lips off of as she rested limply against Callie’s side. Callie’s arm was around her back, stroking lightly across her neck and her shoulder, and she just couldn’t stop touching her. They’d had a healthy sex life before, ever since the first night they’d met actually, but somehow the knowledge that they were married just amplified everything. And rather than being a depressing thought, knowing that the only person she’d ever be with like this again was the woman laying at her side was perfection.

“I’m the only person who gets to be with you like this,” Arizona whispered, sighing as she snuggled in tighter, Callie’s arms adjusting around her.

“Yeah,” she agreed softly. “I’m the only person that will ever hear those little noises you make again.” She pecked a quick kiss to her neck, smiling against the skin. “I’m the only person causing those little noises,” she added, pleased by that thought. Arizona Robbins was only ever hers. The knowledge set her on fire. “Mmh, how are you feeling?”

Arizona stretched a little, feeling deliciously sore after the last few days. “I’m good. I feel good.”

“Good enough to go again?” checked Callie, already sliding one hand down her side and under her leg. “Because I need to make you come again.” She was inside her the second Arizona’s head bobbed, free arm holding the blonde to her chest as she stroked her with slow, deep plunges. The pleading whimper-whine she got as a reward made her go faster, rocking her body against Arizona’s. She could already feel that it wasn’t going to take much. “I’m so in love with you,” Callie whispered straight into her ear, curling her fingers. “Come for me, Arizona.”

There was nothing to do but obey, gasping and shaking and moaning in her arms as she came apart. Callie was right there to hold her together though, whispering to her and wiping away tears she didn’t realize had escaped. “Crying after sex,” Arizona grumbled, snuggling deeper into her. “Real turn on.”

“You love me,” countered Callie. “And I’m damn good,” she added, lightly teasing and smiling when it earned her a swat to the shoulder. “I’m taking it as a complement!” she declared smugly, kissing her forehead. “And I couldn’t be happier that I’m never sleeping with anyone but you.”

“Me too,” Arizona breathed her agreement. “You know what’s my favorite, though?” Callie kissed her, feeling quite sure she knew what Arizona’s favorite was. “Mmh, yes, this is up there,” the blonde said, laughing.

Callie turned her gently, carefully spooning her and wrapping both arms around her so they were pressed together entirely. “This,” she said simply.

“Yes,” sighed Arizona, settling into the embrace. “This is my favorite. Falling asleep with you, being close to you.”

“Good, because you’re stuck with me now,” Callie told her, smiling when the blonde reached one arm back to slap her smartly on the ass, searching blindly for the cover and pulling it over them with a yawn. 

Stuck with her forever and couldn’t be happier about it, Arizona reflected quietly. She didn’t need to say it though. Callie knew, she felt it too.


	3. Chapter 3

“Honey, I’m home,” Callie called as she came through the front door, frowning when there was no answer. “Arizona? Alex? Tim?” Still no answer. Tim had barely been home the last week, spending most nights at Teddy’s. And there was no telling where Alex was. But Arizona should have been home hours ago. Three weeks after their wedding and she’d been swamped with her research into Wallace Anderson’s short gut syndrome. But it wasn’t going well, Arizona’s discouragement growing as her patient’s condition got worse and his parents increased their pressure on her to find a cure.

But she had promised to come home today. It was Wallace’s birthday but it was also Arizona’s birthday. Knowing that her wife didn’t want to celebrate, Callie had still insisted that they do something to commemorate it and had forced the blonde to promise that she would come home for dinner. And if Callie happened to have made her a cake, she had a feeling Arizona wouldn’t object too much.

Of course, she had to actually be around to have any.

“Arizona? Babe, are you here?” Callie shed her coat and moved into the dark house. Someone had been there, the mail for the day was already on the kitchen counter. Sorting through it idly, she paused on a document envelope marked with both her name and Arizona’s on the label. It made her smile to see even their names paired. Then the weight of it occurred to her and she dropped the rest of the mail back to the counter to open the large envelope.

The lawyer’s cover letter at the top of the page made her frown in confusion. It wasn’t her lawyer’s office and all of their partnership papers had been in order when they’d filed them. So what…? Flipping a page answered her mental question. “Holy shit,” she muttered to herself, seeing the tabs marking the pages they would need to sign. And Arizona needed to see this.

The kitchen was only lit by the light under the counter that always stayed on, but the darkness made it easier to notice the flash of light and movement in the backyard. Leaving the surprising mail on the counter and leaning over to look out the window over the sink, Callie squinted to spot her partner’s blonde hair.

Going out through the laundry room, Callie stepped off the pavement into the grass and cleared her throat to get Arizona’s attention. She jumped, clearly startled. “Callie! Hey! I didn’t hear you come home,” she scrambled, blinking when Callie frowned at her. “What?”

“What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’s wrong?’ Nothing’s wrong,” Arizona countered, hands on her hips as she stopped her pacing.

Callie shook her head, confused. Clearly something was wrong. “Arizona, you just called me Callie. You never call me Callie. So, what’s wrong? Is Wallace okay?”

Sighing heavily, Arizona resumed her pacing. “They want me to do another procedure, but he’s not strong enough.” She dropped her gaze to the ground as she walked, hair falling in her face. “He’s not strong enough, but he’s still going to die.”

“So you’re not cutting?”

“He’s not strong enough to make it off the table!” Arizona snapped.

Callie didn’t take it personally, knowing how stressed Arizona had been. “But the Chief wants you to do it.” There was no guessing there. Their Chief of Surgery had been worshipping the ground at Arizona’s feet since they’d met with the wealthy parents about the money.

“And that dick Jennings from the board. He’s scared the Andersons will rethink their donation if I don’t operate.” She made another turn, her foot grinding into the grass as she walked. “But I don’t think he’ll make it.”

Callie sighed, moving closer and stepping into Arizona’s path, hands catching her shoulders. “Sweetheart, you are a brilliant doctor. You know what’s best for that patient.”

“He turned eleven today,” Arizona interjected, upset. “He’s just a little kid and he’s going to die. No matter what I do, he’s going to die.”

Wrapping her arms around her wife, Callie curled both arms up her back, hands rubbing gently at her shoulders. “You are great, Arizona. And whatever you decide to do, I’ll be with you,” she promised, feeling arms wind around her waist. “Even if you tell Jennings and the Chief to go to hell.”

“I love you,” Arizona whispered. “Can we have some of my cake?” She was conflicted and miserable about her hopeless decision, no matter what she did that little boy was going to die, but Callie and some cake seemed like it could help.

“Before dinner?”

“It’s my birthday, Calliope,” she reminded her.

“I thought you didn’t like your birthday,” Callie countered, smiling as she drew back.

“I don’t. Except when it gets me cake before dinner and extra sex.” Extra sex was the only reason she looked forward to her birthday. After last year, she was almost a fan of the day…

Callie laughed, kissing her softly. “Well, we got a wedding present in the mail that might help cheer you up,” she told her, sneaking another kiss before the thought of a present drew Arizona back toward the house, pulling her along by the hand.

“How do you know it’s not a birthday present just for me?” she asked, appearing more cheerful.

Smiling, the Latina shook her head at her partner, goosing her butt as the blonde went inside just in front of her. “Because it has both of our names on it. And because it’s a pretty big birthday present.” She laughed as she remembered exactly what it was. “Actually, it’s still huge as a wedding present.”

Confused, Arizona sent her a look over her shoulder. “Who’s it from?”

“Just look,” Callie told her, nodding toward the kitchen counter and gently guiding her forward with hands on her hips, pressing herself against Arizona’s back to read over her shoulder.

Arizona’s first look at the pages made her mouth drop open. “Holy shit! They gave us the house?!”

Laughing, Callie leaned in to kiss her neck. “Looks like it. Did you know they were doing this?”

The blonde head turned to meet her eyes, smile still growing on her lips. “If I had known they were giving us a house for our wedding, would I have just yelled holy shit, Calliope?!” she asked, snuggling back into the body behind her. Dropping the papers back to the counter, she reached back with one hand to touch Callie’s shorter hair, combing her fingers from scalp to the very ends and back up again.

“Should we call your parents?” Callie asked, her chin on Arizona’s shoulder. “Maybe it’s not a wedding present. Maybe it’s a birthday prank.” She caught the scent of something strange and leaned her nose into Arizona’s shirt to catch the smell again. Unless she was mistaken, it smelled like cigarettes. “Do you smell smoke?”

Coughing suddenly, Arizona hit the speakerphone on her phone, listening to the last ring as her mother picked up. “Happy birthday, baby girl!” Barbara cooed, Arizona rolling her eyes.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Callie?”

“I’m here too,” Callie answered her. “We got some papers in the mail and we were wondering if you knew something about it.”

The older woman laughed on the other end of the phone. “It should be pretty straightforward. You two just have to sign and mail it back and the lawyer will make sure everything goes through smoothly.”

“Is it my birthday present, Mama?” Arizona teasingly asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Arizona Marie, you know how to share,” Barbara teased back. “Your father and I are more than happy to give you your own house as a wedding gift.” She chuckled. “We’ve actually been meaning to sign it over to you for a few years now, but we just never thought about it long enough to do it. The wedding seemed like the perfect occasion.”

Callie squeezed her wife closer. “Thank you, Mrs. Robbins. It’s really too generous…”

“Oh, please, girls, it’s your home,” she denied. “And Callie, you know better than to call me that!”

“Ooh,” Arizona chimed in with a laugh. “Busted, Calliope. And who knows, maybe we’ll actually use all these rooms someday,” she commented thoughtlessly.

“Oh, Arizona, you didn’t kick those boys out, did you?” Barbara asked, confused.

Realizing her oversight, it took her a second to respond, Callie just breathing softly against her neck. “Oh, no, that’s not what I meant. The boys aren’t going anywhere.”

“Then what did you mean? All the rooms are being used, aren’t they?”

“Mom…”

“It’s nothing, Barbara,” Callie chimed in sympathetically, nuzzling closer to Arizona’s neck. There was definitely the faintest whiff of smoke on her.

They’d discussed children and she couldn’t say that she wouldn’t love to have Arizona’s baby, but until she brought it up, there was not going to be anything like pushing from her. But even the idle comment from her wife that they might have reasons to use all of the bedrooms of their home that weren’t Arizona’s work husband or her brother made her heart beat faster.

“Okay,” the older woman agreed slowly, clearly hesitant. “Callie, what are you forcing Arizona to do for her birthday? Any big plans?”

“Mom…” Arizona protested again.

“She’s your wife, sweetheart. Let her treat you extra nice one day a year,” Barbara said, sweetly ordering her daughter.

“Yeah!” agreed Callie, squeezing her. “We’re just staying in tonight though. Dinner at home and I made her a cake.”

“That we’re eating some of before dinner,” Arizona couldn’t resist telling her mom, hearing the patient sigh on the other end. Dessert before dinner would never have been allowed in the Colonel’s home. She tried to imagine if the roles were reversed on this call, if she and Callie were the ones calling their daughter on her birthday. Surprisingly, it didn’t suck. Of course, anything she did with Callie wasn’t going to suck, but it didn’t scare her the way she thought it would. Something to think about later…

“I suppose it’s your birthday,” Barbara sighed, “And you’re a grown, married woman. It’s not up to me to tell you what to do anymore, it’s up to Callie.” Callie smiled, rubbing her hands possessively over the blonde’s hips, pressing herself in closer. The edge of something in Arizona’s pocket caught her notice and she patted around it, frowning curiously when she felt Arizona go stiff.

It was a rectangle, stiff like cardboard, but could be squished, and Callie’s smart doctor mind put the pieces together - the scent of smoke on Arizona’s shirt, and now what appeared to be a pack of cigarettes in her pocket. How could she not know that Arizona smoked?

Sensing she was about to be in trouble, Arizona spoke up quickly. “Hey, Mom, thank you so much for the house, it’s really too sweet, but we’ve got to go now. Love Dad, too.”

“Okay,” Mrs. Robbins agreed slowly. “We love you, girls. And love to your brother and Alex.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Arizona dutifully answered.

“We love you too,” Callie spoke up. “Good night.” She reached over Arizona’s shoulder with one hand to push the button and end the call, the other hand pushing the package out of her wife’s pocket. “You smoke?” she asked as the screen of Arizona’s phone when back to the menu. “How the hell have we been together for over two years and I didn’t know that you smoke, Arizona?”

“I don’t,” Arizona started to protest, the words dying on her lips when Callie lifted the mostly full pack of cigarettes up in front of her face. “Okay, so I do, but it’s only when I’m stressed and I know I’m going to be in trouble, like now…”

Callie stared incredulously at the back of her blonde head, dropping the cigarettes on the counter to turn Arizona bodily around to face her. “Oh, you’re in trouble now,” she declared passionately. She didn’t care how infrequently it happened, it was too much. “I am not having you get cancer, or any of the hundreds of other health problems smoking causes, because of some stupid cigarettes, Arizona! You just had your last smoke.”

“Calliope…”

“No, you don’t get to Calliope me,” she cut in forcefully. “No more cigarettes! I’m not losing you because of something so idiotic! If you’re stressed, come find me and you can yell or complain at me.”

“What if we’re fighting?” Arizona suggested meekly, looking up at her through her eyelashes. Fiery Callie was entirely sexy. She really hoped she hadn’t just screwed herself out of birthday sex. The hot, hot birthday sex with her passionate, fiery wife.

Callie could see the darkening color in Arizona’s eyes and she let a smile slip onto her lips. “If we’re fighting, we’ll just have angry sex,” she proposed, Arizona’s dimples popping as she smiled back at her. The smile faltered when Callie leaned back instead of meeting her lips for a kiss. “Oh, no. I’m not kissing you.” She said it as though it should have been obvious.

“Why not?!” Arizona yelped, pouting.

“You just smoked! I’m not putting my tongue in your mouth until you brush your teeth!” She leaned in to sniff lightly at her shoulder. “And your clothes kind of stink too, babe.”

Still pouty, the blonde wracked her brain for a solution. Because she was not giving up her birthday sex with her wife. Abruptly, her pager went off at her hip. Or maybe she was. Damn it. “It’s Wallace.”

Callie immediately stepped back to free her from the counter. “Go.”


	4. Chapter 4

Keeping the lights off in the sleeping boy’s room, Arizona did her checks and tests and his numbers were the same as when she’d gone home, not great but stable, and there was no indication about why she would have been paged. The Chief was waiting for her when the Peds surgeon rolled out of Wallace’s door though, and it was suddenly clear why she’d been called in when the patient was fine, just sleeping. “Robbins…”

“Chief…” she answered him warily, already knowing what he was going to say. “It’s not a good idea, sir.” She squared her shoulders. “And you can’t hold that money over my head. Because if I do that surgery, we will be getting paid to kill that child,” stubbornly, she crossed her arms, “And you can’t make me do that, sir.”

“Dr. Robbins…”

“No!” Arizona denied him, belatedly lowering her voice and stepping away from her patient’s room. “You cannot bully me into doing a surgery that I don’t believe my patient will survive! And paging me in just to do that is completely unacceptable!”

His face pinched at her characteristic blunt stubbornness with him, brows furrowing as he waited to see if she would cry. “Dr. Robbins, the Andersons will get surgery for their son, even if it’s not you performing it.”

“You can’t make me kill him!”

“And if someone else does the surgery, someone who’s not as skilled as you are?” he countered, arms crossing his chest.

Arizona scowled at him. “I might be his best shot, but that doesn’t mean I can do it.” She breathed deeply, closing her eyes. “Surgery now would just be killing him faster. I don’t think he’ll make it off the table, sir. And if I managed to do it and he managed to survive, I’d be buying him days if I didn’t kill him.” Blue eyes opened slowly to lock gazes with him. “I can’t do it, Chief.”

“Not even if it will give him days with his parents, days they’ll treasure?”

“No, sir. Because I’m a great surgeon,” her mind echoed the same statement in Calliope’s voice, “but I don’t think I can give him those days. And if I did, he’d be in more pain, suffering worse, if he woke up at all,” she shook her head, “His parents don’t want that.”

He eyed her with what she hoped was respect. “And this is a decision you can live with, Dr. Robbins?”

Swallowing hard and fighting tears, Arizona answered, “I wish that I didn’t have to live with the decision to let a child die. But I can’t do anything. And surgery means that I would be killing him myself. And not doing that, I can live with that decision,” she nodded, “Yes, sir.”

The older man gave her a few moments of quiet consideration, one hand scratching at his graying beard. “Very well, Dr. Robbins. I’ll talk to Mr. Jennings.”

Her body abruptly slumped as she let her resolve go. Standing up to authority had always made her cry and she could feel the unwanted surge of emotion rising to choke her. “Thank you, sir.” All she wanted was to be back at home in Callie’s arms.

“Go home, Arizona,” he directed her gently. Everyone had seen how much this case had been weighing on her. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The night air was cold as she stepped outside of her car, breath fogging as she walked up the driveway. The house was dark, it was late, but she still felt relieved to be home. Opening the front door, she almost didn’t even look toward the living room, just started straight up the stairs to her bed and her wife.

Then someone moved on the couch and she paused. “Hello?”

“Arizona.” Callie’s warm, sleepy voice made her melt. “You’re home…” she moaned, sitting up. She could only huff as the blonde abruptly threw herself onto her, pushing them both back against the sofa. “Honey, are you okay?” Tears fell hot and hard on her shoulder as Arizona’s control snapped. “Oh, Arizona, what happened?” she pleaded, arms wrapping protectively around her partner. “Is Wallace…?”

“He’s alive. He’s not good, but he’s alive,” Arizona gasped out, sobbing into her chest. “The Chief paged me in to talk about the surgery, but I told him I wouldn’t do it.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Callie sighed, stroking her hair gently. “It’s okay. I’m here. I’ve got you.” Hushing her tenderly, she kept Arizona close, rubbing her back and her soft hair. It broke her heart to see Arizona’s pain, her sensitive soul suffering with her patients. And Wallace was special, she knew that. “It’s okay,” she whispered again.

Gasping breaths made it hard to hear her and understand, the words painful and broken. “You can understand, right? Why I can’t do this at work and come home to it too?” Arizona’s eyes were rimmed with red when she lifted her head. 

Nodding, Callie guided her head back to her shoulder. “I understand,” she promised softly. “It’s okay, Arizona. It’s okay. I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere.” She could argue - every kid got sick, but not every kid got sick like Wallace was sick. But that wasn’t what Arizona needed from her so she whispered soothing sweet nothings in Spanish into her ear and held her. And even as it hurt to watch her love hurt, she knew she wouldn’t want to be anywhere else if Arizona was in pain. Spanish nothings weren’t enough and she started whispering promises of her life and forever, vows they’d already made that she intended to keep every day.

The tears slowed gradually as Arizona cried herself out, her body relaxing more heavily against Callie’s but she didn’t move, just pulled one arm free carefully and found the blanket on the back of the couch and spread it over them.

Arizona woke up with a groan almost an hour later, grumbling, “We need a new couch.”

Callie sucked in a short breath as she woke up as well, chuckling as her words sunk in. “I’m off on Saturday. We can go shopping.” A deeper breath and she ran a hand down Arizona’s back. “How are you?”

“Were you waiting up for me?” she asked instead.

“Yes, of course I was. You were upset when you left and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Arizona sighed, snuggling into her. “I love you.” She planted a kiss to the first skin she could reach. “And I love you for waiting up, but we need to go to bed. This devil couch is going to kill my back.” Shifting, Callie let Arizona sit up, stretching her own back for a series of satisfying pops. “Ouch,” Arizona offered sympathetically. “Sorry. I guess I was squishing you.”

Callie leaned in to kiss her softly, shaking her head. “Hush. There’s nowhere I would have rather been tonight.”

“Well, I’ll admit, when I was thinking about you being underneath me tonight, that wasn’t how it happened in my head.” Callie just smiled and laughed quietly at the blonde’s sorrowful sigh at the loss of her birthday sex. It was now well past dinner time and bumping up against the middle of the night, but Arizona’s stomach growled and she smiled sheepishly. “I missed dinner.”

“The boys ate a lot of it, but I saved some for you.” Callie stood up and took her hand, pulling her toward the kitchen. “I wouldn’t let them have any cake though.”

Moaning, the blonde wrapped both arms around Callie’s shoulders and plastered herself to her wife’s back. “I love you,” she repeated earnestly, letting herself be dragged along. “Like, a crazy, ridiculous amount.”

“Because I saved your birthday cake for you?” Callie asked with a chuckle, knowing exactly what she meant and feeling it herself. She was made to love Arizona Robbins. And Arizona Robbins was made to love her.

“Yes,” she answered cheerfully. “Just for that!”

“So if I feed you cake for dinner?”

Warm lips pressed to her neck, scattering kisses. “Feed me cake and I’m yours forever,” she promised. She was having the week from hell, watching a patient she cared deeply about suffer and die slowly while she could do nothing. But Callie knew the perfect thing to do, the exact thing to say to make her whole world brighter.

“You’re that easy? Eternal devotion for some cake?” Callie teased, lifting the lid of her cake display and setting it aside.

“That looks amazing, Calliope,” Arizona said earnestly, licking her lips as she looked at the thick, swirly chocolate icing covering her birthday cake. “It’s not like I’m giving it up for some Little Debbie’s or anything. Homemade or no love!”

Callie laughed heartily at that, slicing a good sized piece for them to share. “And if this cake has a layer of chocolate peanut butter fudge in it?” she asked, turning the plate so Arizona could see the layers. She took her answer from the extended moan against her neck. “I’m going to take that as eternal devotion. Would you get me a fork, please?”

Arizona was gone and back in a flash, pulling Callie around toward her and grabbing her face in both hands, kissing her without a word. Callie reached behind her blindly and put the plate on the table so both arms were free to wrap around Arizona without the possibility of smearing them with chocolate. A tongue slipped past her lips, battling her own tongue languidly. There was no need for dominance, not right now. Both hands slid into her hair, something she thought Arizona was unable to help before was now apparently completely beyond her control since her hair had been cut. She found ways to get her hands in it every day. Tugging lightly, Arizona changed the angle just slightly, sucking little nips to her bottom lip.

“Thank you,” she murmured as the kiss slowed and stopped, both of them smiling.

“My pleasure,” Callie hummed in answer. “Come here.” Coaxing them toward to the table, she guided Arizona into her lap as she sat down. The blonde promptly flipped her leg over so she was straddling Callie’s lap. “Oh,” the Latina said, pleased but surprised by the change.

Arizona smiled almost shyly, the expression a contrast with their current position, two fingers pushing a lock of dark hair back gently. “You’re not tired of being under me yet, are you?”

“Never,” Callie promised, kissing her softly before she leaned her head around to find the plate and fork on the table. She shifted it closer to the edge and cut off a bite, balancing it carefully and bringing it back for Arizona. “Here. I hope you like it.”

Taking her bite, blue eyes closed as she savored the melting chocolate on her tongue. “Calliope, if you didn’t already have my love forever, you’ve definitely got it now.” She licked her lips, a small moan slipping out. “More please?” Arizona requested, leaving her mouth open for it. Callie laughed but fed her another bite, free hand stroking invisible patterns on her wife’s thigh. 

Noise from the hall prefaced the appearance of Tim and Alex, Karev going straight for the cake. “Finally!”

Tim pecked a kiss to his sister’s cheek on the way, smiling. “Happy birthday, Arizona.”

“Thank you,” she said graciously, directing the next bite of cake to Callie. “This cake is amazing. So you guys can have some, but save me like a quarter of it,” she directed.

“What are you going to do with a quarter of this cake?” Alex questioned around his own mouthful.

Blue eyes rolled in his direction. “I’m going to eat it, duh!” She took the next bite Callie offered her. “Cause my wife made it for me and it’s my birthday cake.” And she had a feeling she would want the chocolate comfort after Wallace Anderson’s case ended the way she knew it would. But she didn’t say that part out loud.

Callie could see the emotion hiding behind the perky mask and she leaned up to kiss her, sharing the taste of the chocolate between them. Arizona’s fingers slipped back into dark hair, her forehead leaning against Callie’s. “Do we trust them not to eat all the cake?” Arizona looked sideways at the two men, considering and finally nodding. “Good, because I want to go upstairs.” She kissed her jaw and down her neck. “I’ve got another present for you.”

Arizona sighed, shaking her head and smiling. “Calliope, you know I don’t like birthdays.”

Callie’s smirking wink was quickly changing her mind though. “You’re going to like this. Trust me.” Arizona forced her expression to remain unconvinced. “It’s black.” Blue eyes widened just slightly. “And red lace right around here.” She traced her fingers across the tops of her breasts.

Abruptly Arizona was on her feet, hauling Callie up with her. “Good night, guys,” she said quickly.

“Night,” Alex answered, smirking knowingly as he finished his cake with one big bite.

Dragging her up the stairs, Arizona spun to kiss her as soon as she could, backing down the hall toward their bedroom without ceasing her affectionate display. Hands in hair, lips on lips, tongues against tongues, she didn’t surrender any bit of it. Even on her worst day, Callie made her feel better and she just wanted to sink into that comfort and never, ever leave.

So she whined when Callie gently pulled away from her, hands on her shoulders keeping her at a distance. “Baby, I have to go change.” Arizona just dragged her in for another series of kisses, Callie sucking on her tongue. “Mmh, Arizona…”

“You’re hot just like this,” Arizona pleaded, both hands slipping under her shirt to touch skin. “Calliope…” Their stumbling steps tumbled them into bed, the blonde whining in protest when her lover promptly rolled away.

“Honey, you’re going to love it, I promise,” Callie said, swatting hands from her hips. “Trust me.”

Arizona grumbled as she flopped back into bed, thrashing the sheets with both hands while she sent a glare after her wife. “You owe me so big, Calliope,” she stated, kicking her shoes off without lifting her head.

“Give me two minutes and I swear I will make it up to you,” promised Callie earnestly, blowing her a kiss from the bathroom door. Closing the door behind herself after one last look at her frustrated wife, Callie was quick to strip out of her clothes. She could hear Arizona’s continued fuming, the muted sound of one of her sneakers hitting the bathroom door between them, and Callie laughed loud enough that she knew Arizona would hear her.

Pulling her birthday surprise on, she took a moment to ruffle her hair, checking herself out in the mirror. Arizona was wild for her shorter haircut and of course her breasts looked spectacular, the red lace teasing the peaks of her cleavage while the black camisole clung to her curves. Matching red lace boy shorts completed the surprise and she gave her hair a final quick adjustment before she opened the door to return to the bedroom.

She got a surprise of her own when she found Arizona sprawled half out of her clothes and completely asleep in the middle of the bed. Callie couldn’t help smiling, one hand coming up to cover her mouth while she watched Arizona breathe deeply though an open mouth. She was completely adorable. “Baby,” Callie whispered, moving closer. There was no response and she coaxed the jeans down her perfect legs gingerly, cautious not to wake her.

Arizona only stirred when Callie tucked her carefully under the sheets, turning over to nestle closer and settling her head just above the red lace of her surprise. Callie just stroked soft fingers through her hair gently, smoothing a kiss to her forehead.

“Happy Birthday, Arizona,” she breathed, feeling an arm slide around her as she closed her eyes and sank into her partner’s embrace.


	5. Chapter 5

Arizona felt like she was buried in paperwork, her office walls getting smaller through the sheer volume of papers around her. She loved heading the department, but all the paperwork was a pain in the ass. A knock on the door brought her head up with a groan. “Yes?”

“Dr. Robbins,” Alex said as he opened the door. “There’s some hot chick down in the lobby who says she’s looking for you.”

Blinking at him in disbelief, the blonde shook her head at him warningly. “I’m sure there’s something else you meant to say, Karev. You can’t call patient’s parents ‘hot chicks.’”

“She’s not a parent,” he said defensively. “She said she knows you from med school. And she’s really hot! I stand by it!”

“Med school?” Arizona asked with a frown, trying to think. Most of the girls she’d gone to med school with hadn’t stayed in touch. Except for… “Does she have red hair?” She stood up quickly. It couldn’t be…

Alex grinned, bobbing an eyebrow at her. “Got it in one. Who is this chick? Ex-girlfriend?”

“None of your business,” she shot back, shoving him out of her office ahead of her and pulling the door closed behind them. “And if you try and sleep with her, I’ll kill you,” she promised.

“Can you do that anymore?” he questioned, following her into the elevator. “You already got a girl. You can’t call dibs on another one!” He arched an eyebrow at her smugly and crossed his arms over his chest. “You bored with marriage already?”

“Shut up!” ordered Arizona, spinning to slap his shoulder before kicking off on her wheels as soon as the doors opened. “That’s not what this is! You just keep your hands to yourself, Alex. Seriously!”

He stopped chasing her as she took off, though he did call after her, “I’ll just ask Torres what’s going on then!”

Ignoring him, Arizona skidded around the corner skillfully, grinning when she caught sight of her friend at the counter. “Arizona Robbins, you’re going to kill yourself on those things!” 

Tall, thin, redheaded, and beautiful, Addison Montgomery hadn’t changed at all.

“Oh, no way! It’s never going to happen, Red!” Arizona denied with a grin, rolling to a quick stop and throwing her arms around the taller woman. “What are you doing in Seattle, Addie?!” she questioned curiously. “You didn’t call me!”

“Like you called me when you got married?!” Addison sent back shortly, both hands on her shoulders pushing her friend back gently to stare her down. “Let me see it!” 

Knowing what she wanted, Arizona offered her left hand with a cheerful grin, showing off her rings. “I love that your first request isn’t to meet my wife, but to see my ring,” she teased, rolling her eyes. Leaning back to get a better look at her old friend, she shook her head in amazement. They’d met in med school, bonded over their desired specialties, and had roomed together after their first semester. They’d been close through school, but residencies at different hospitals had separated them. “It’s so good to see you, Addie,” she said earnestly. “You look so good! What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to see you, obviously,” Addie declared, swatting her shoulder as she twisted Arizona’s hand from side to side to inspect her ring. “Your girl has good taste,” she declared.

“Obviously,” agreed Arizona happily, both of them laughing. “But seriously, what are you doing here? I know you’re not just here to see me.”

Addison grinned, auburn hair falling in her face. “So maybe I need to use your OR,” she acknowledged. “And I could use a first assist if you know of anybody good,” Addison teased, letting her hand go to hook her arm through Arizona’s.

“Oh, like I’d let anyone else into an OR with you! I’m there.” Spotting Callie coming around the corner, she dragged Addison forward rapidly. “Calliope, hey, I want you to meet somebody!”

The Latina barely slowed down, rushing toward the OR. “I’d love to, babe, but I’ve got emergency surgery,” Callie said in a rush, dropping a kiss on her cheek as she dashed past, taking the stairs two at a time. “I can do lunch later. I’ll page you.”

Watching her go with a grin, Arizona shrugged at Addison. “So that was her, I’m guessing?”

“That’s my wife,” Arizona confirmed proudly. She was married to that woman. She wasn’t sure that that fact wouldn’t ever make her giddy. Two months in and it hadn’t failed yet.

“Hot,” Addison offered her approval. “What’s her specialty?”

“Ortho. And I know!” Arizona’s dimples were clearly on display as she bragged on her wife. “She’s hardcore. She built bones for Timothy last year.”

A frown dropped over her friend’s expression. “Timmy? What happened to Timmy?” She’d met Arizona’s brother before he’d deployed the first time, seen how close the two Robbins siblings were.

Shaking her head, Arizona started walking her friend back toward Peds. “He got blown up in Iraq. She had to replace the tibia and fibula in his right leg with titanium.”

“Whoa,” Addison commented.

“Yeah,” agreed Arizona. “But they pulled it off and he’s got his strength back and can walk and everything.” She offered a smile, bumping her with an elbow. “And he’s sleeping with Teddy.” Addison had only met the heart surgeon once or twice, but she’d heard Arizona talk about her best friend enough that she knew who she was.

Laughing wildly, Addison slapped her friend’s shoulder. “Oh, I bet you love that!”

“And he lives with me, did I forget that part?!” 

Addison laughed harder. “So it’s you and the wife…”

“Callie,” Arizona supplied happily.

“You and Callie, and Tim and Teddy…?”

“And Karev,” the blonde added. “The guy that came and found me for you. He’s my fellowship student.”

“You live with your brother and your fellow?” Addison asked, still laughing.

“And my wife,” Arizona said again. She liked saying the word, though. “It’s a bit crowded, I know.”

The redhead scoffed. “It sounds like a frat house!”

“It kind of feels like a frat sometimes,” she conceded, blue eyes rolling.

“So if I needed a place to stay…”

Arizona laughed at the instant image of her friend fighting with her sofa. “Our couch sleeps like a bitch, but it’s yours if you want it. Callie and I have been meaning to replace it, but we keep getting busy. The boys haven’t been around much lately though, so you could probably sleep in Tim’s room since he’ll be at Teddy’s more than likely. I make no promises about how filthy it is in there though!”

“Don’t worry about it,” Addie said, waving it off. “If it’s completely miserable, I’ll just come in there and sleep with you.” Arizona smirked sideways at her friend as she opened the door to her colorful ward. “You’d kick Callie out of bed for me, wouldn’t you?”

“Um, hell no,” Arizona answered immediately, lowering her voice for the sake of the little ears but losing none of her stated conviction. She and Addison had shared a bed before (not in a sexual way - well, there was that one drunken kiss, but that was never spoken of) but she wouldn’t kick Callie out of her bed for anyone. “Welcome to my Peds ward,” she offered, changing the subject.

“Yours?” asked Addison. “You’re department head?! Have you completely lost my number, woman?!” Addison demanded, snatching the phone from her friend’s pocket to check her contact list. “No! It’s in here but somehow I’m not getting calls when your brother gets blown up, or you get promoted to department head, or when you get married!”

Shaking her head, Arizona offered an apologetic shrug. “It’s been a busy year.”

Abruptly Alex appeared in front of them. “Hey, boss.”

She knew his sneaky look well and jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “I told you to get lost, Karev.”

“This is your guy?” Addie interjected, prompting a smug smile from Alex as she considered him.

“Alex Karev, Addison Montgomery,” Arizona introduced them with a sigh. “Addie’s staying with us for a few days. You be nice,” she ordered.

“You’re the Dr. Montgomery? I’ve heard of you. I read that paper you published last year on invitro neuro surgeries for strokes in the womb,” Alex said, offering his hand while Addie arched an eyebrow at Arizona, the blonde shaking her head and rolling her eyes. “It was very impressive.”

Arizona separated them with a sigh, shoving Alex back. “Yes, she’s very impressive. We know. Karev, do we have any surgeries? Dr. Montgomery could use something to do. She could learn the layout of our ORs.”

“Can I scrub in?” Alex asked eagerly.

The two women exchanged glances and Addison considered him again, eyes dragging from head to foot. “I don’t know. Is he good?”

As much as she wanted to deny it and knock him down a peg, she couldn’t just lie like that and restrained herself to a scoff. “I’m doing everything I can with him, so yeah, he’s pretty good,” she said, arms crossing her chest.

Alex grinned and dashed to collect a chart from the desk, leading them both to their patient’s room. Behind him, Addison leaned over to whisper in Arizona’s ear, “If the couch doesn’t work out I could always just stay in his room.” She ignored her friend’s grimace, smirking to herself.

They’d already finished their surgery and were in the cafeteria before Callie got out of her own, Arizona answering her page to let her know where they were. Seeing her wife’s blonde hair at a table across the room, Callie shuffled wearily in her direction. It was only lunch and it had already been such a long day. And her head was throbbing, not helping her bad day. Seeing Arizona laugh with the redheaded new arrival made her pause, still several yards from the table. She was in a bad mood, her emergent patient hadn’t had much of a chance from the time she’d been paged by George to the ER, but it still hurt to lose one.

But it appeared that Arizona was having a good day. She didn’t want to spoil it with her own funky attitude. Sighing, she found her pager on her hip. She’d leave Arizona to her good day and maybe a nap in an on-call room would turn her around. Typing on her pager to let her wife know that she wasn’t going to make it, Callie turned to leave the cafeteria.

Arizona turned to follow Addison’s gaze as the redhead leaned over to look at something behind her, but was distracted by her pager buzzing on her hip. “Aww, Calliope says she’s got a consult. I guess you’ll have to meet her when we get home.”

“I think I just saw her leave,” Addison said. “Sorry, Arizona.”

Spinning on her chair as though she could see Callie even though Addison had just said that she was gone, Arizona sighed and frowned. “You saw her?”

“I think it was her, but I wouldn’t know, remember?”

Still pouting, Arizona turned back to her lunch, reluctantly taking a bite of the last piece of key lime pie she’d gotten off the line for Callie. “Well, I guess tell me about this surgery you’re here to do,” she suggested.

Addison bumped her with an elbow, shaking her head. “Try not to be so enthusiastic, Robbins. It’s just a baby who is going to be born with her heart in upside down. The aorta and vena cava are connected in the wrong places.”

“Whoa,” Arizona acknowledged, eyes going wide. “The mother came into your clinic?” Though she was a surgeon, Addison’s primary job was at a fertility clinic in Los Angeles.

“Yes,” Addison stole a bite of pie, redirecting Arizona’s hand and fork to her mouth, “But we don’t have the surgical facility to deal with all the complications we might find.” She offered her friend a smirk. “And you’re up here, so I figured I’d throw you a bone and bring you a surgery.”

Blue eyes rolled, Arizona scoffing. “When’s the mom coming in?”

“C-section is scheduled for tomorrow. Does nine work for you?”

“I’ll be there,” agreed Arizona.

Alex ran by out of nowhere, stuffing a banana into his mouth even as he spoke. “Me too, boss!” He was gone before Arizona could say anything.

By the time she got home Callie’s disappearance at lunch had been completely forgotten as she brought Addison to the house, their late arrival meaning that the elder Robbins was busy in the kitchen when they got home, cooking one of his favorite pastimes.

“Hey!” Arizona called as they came through the door, both women shaking rain off their jackets. “Anybody home?” she asked just before catching the scent of dinner on the air. “Calliope? Tim?” It was an even shot between which one of them might be cooking.

“Tim!” he called back from the kitchen. “Callie’s not with you?”

He sounded confused by the unusual occurrence that they weren’t coming home together and Arizona sighed and frowned. “No. I actually haven’t seen her at all today. She’s not home yet?”

Shaking his head, Tim turned from flipping steaks on the stove. “Not unless she snuck in and went straight up to your room.”

Even as he said it, the front door opened, Callie stomping the rain off her shoes in the doorway. “Oh, sorry,” she offered, noticing the others in the kitchen. “It’s going to get icy tonight. It’s getting cold out there.” Her teeth were chattering as she spoke and a shiver raced down her spine while rain dripped from her hair.

“I’m glad you’re home. I was about to start worrying about you,” Arizona said, moving back down the hall to greet her, both hands on her chest as she took a quick kiss.

“Here I am,” Callie said, smiling weakly. She wasn’t feeling any better, her headache only making her bad day worse as it grew throughout the afternoon. The fact that she hadn’t eaten all day wasn’t helping her either.

And of course Arizona could see it, the concern in her blue eyes clear. “Are you okay?” she asked considerately. A gentle hand touched her cheek and slid over her forehead. Callie felt a little warm even under the icy rainwater clinging to her skin, but she didn’t say anything.

“Just tired,” sighed the brunette, forcing her smile not to slip. “But I’m fine.”

“Okay,” Arizona agreed slowly, taking her hand to lead her down the hall to where Tim and Addison were catching up. “Look who I found.” Addison turned with a smile, arms already open for a hug. “Addison Montgomery, old friend and med school roommate, this is Calliope Torres, love of my life and my wife,” Arizona introduced them, surprised when Addison swept Callie into a hug. “You’ve been in L.A. too long,” she commented as she stepped back from the embracing pair.

“How come she doesn’t get a ‘watch the hands’ warning?” Tim teased, smirking at her.

“Because she’s straight,” Arizona shot back. “And has never admired my wife’s body right in front of me!”

He just shrugged, putting a steak onto the plate next to the stove. “Give her time. They just met!”

Considering that, Arizona cleared her throat. “Watch the hands, Addie.”

That got her a look from both friend and wife, Callie smiling politely. “Excuse her. And please, call me Callie,” she requested.

“Addie,” Addison echoed. “I’ve only heard wonderful things, Callie. It’s nice to finally meet you. Arizona hasn’t been able to shut up about you all day.” She sent a wicked smile over her shoulder at her friend, hooking an arm through Callie’s.

“Isn’t it disgusting?” Tim chimed in teasingly, Arizona sticking her tongue out at him.

“We are not disgusting!” she yelped defensively. “We’re adorable!”

Pretending to think about that, Addison just laughed, directing her attention to Callie. “From everything I’ve heard about you, you kind of define badass.” Callie cocked an eyebrow at her silently. “My question is, how’d you end up with the queen of perk over there?”

Arizona jumped forward to pull Callie to her side, noting the quickly recovered stumble Callie had on the way but not saying anything about it. “Hey! You’re both just jealous! You wish you could get a girl so awesome to marry you!” she declared stubbornly.

Tim lifted a hand. “Hey, you know I have asked. She just shuts me down!”

Smirking tiredly, Callie leaned her head over onto Arizona’s shoulder while Addison laughed. “I hear you’re sleeping with Teddy anyways,” the redhead shot back. “And I take my steak medium rare.”

“You’re getting well done,” he countered, pretending petulance and pointing his metal bladed spatula at her. “And you’ll like it!”

“I’m so glad we live with such mature people,” Arizona murmured to Callie, taking her hand in between them. “Are you okay?” she asked again, keeping her voice down as Tim and Addie playfully bickered. “You seem… off tonight.”

Feeling the throbbing ache behind her eyes, Callie just took another slow, steady breath. “I’m just tired. And hungry. Head hurts,” she mumbled. “Didn’t get lunch.”

“Aww,” Arizona cooed sympathetically. “I wish you could have made it down, sweetie. I stole you the last piece of key lime pie. I almost had to bite an intern for it!” she joked.

It earned her a small smile and Callie lifted her head slowly. “Listen, I don’t want to be rude with your friend here, but I kind of feel miserable and I’m sure I’m going to be paged in once there’s ice on the roads, so maybe I’ll just take some cereal and go upstairs?” she suggested, her voice low. “I can stay…”

“No, it’s okay,” Arizona assured her, squeezing her hand before releasing it. “Go ahead.”

Callie was sleeping by the time they called it a night on the reminiscing, the Latina sprawled on her front and breathing deeply in the middle of their bed. Arizona kept the lights off as she changed into sleep clothes (a pilfered long sleeve t-shirt of Callie’s from the University of Miami) and slid into bed with her wife, Callie moving in her sleep to give her space to join her. Testing her forehead with the back of a hand showed that she was still warm, but she was sleeping soundly so it didn’t appear anything was bothering her.


	6. Chapter 6

Scrubbing out of her successful surgery with Addison, Arizona couldn’t help feeling excited. They’d saved a baby’s life in there. And with any luck, she wouldn’t even need further surgery.

At her elbow, Karev grinned across the sink partition at her. “You going to find Torres and tear up an on-call room?” he asked knowingly.

“We do not do that after every surgery, Karev,” she reminded him, eyes rolling even as she smiled at the thought. That was exactly what she wanted to do, but no way in hell was she going to admit it to Alex. “Just the big ones,” she murmured under her breath.

“Dude, this was a pretty big one. And that’s what I’m going to do if I can find a girl,” he said with a shrug. “I bet it won’t even take me ten minutes to find someone. We saved a baby! Chicks go crazy for that crap! Dr. Montgomery, what are you going to do?”

Arizona quickly turned her head the other way to glare, shaking her head warningly. Addie and Alex had been flirting through the whole surgery and she was still striving to convince either one of them that doing anything would be a bad idea. Addison just smirked at her.

“You know what?” Arizona declared, shaking her head. “I’ve got my own girl to find, so you two just do whatever you want.”

Looking at each other and grinning, Alex and Addison both laughed. “Now you’re taking the fun out of it, Robbins!” she said. “Tell Callie we said hey, though!”

Leaving the scrub room with a smirk over her shoulder, Arizona tried to think of where Callie was supposed to be this afternoon. Her name wasn’t on the surgical board but she knew that the Ortho surgeon had been scheduled for a surgery so she had to be around somewhere. After checking the research lab, the ER, and the cafeteria though, she was less sure. And none of her pages had been answered either.

“Do you know where Dr. Torres is?” a resident she dimly recognized as Callie’s sometimes research assistant stopped her to ask, the question drawing an immediate frown to her face.

“You haven’t seen her either?” She didn’t like the sound of this at all.

“Dr. Robbins…” Owen’s expression was sober.

“Oh God, what happened?” the blonde asked of the Trauma surgeon. “Callie?” She’d already checked the ER but that fact slipped her mind in the face of her growing worry.

“She missed her surgery,” he said, shaking his head. “You haven’t seen her, have you?”

“What?” Arizona questioned, her brow furrowing. “So no one’s seen her today?” she asked of the pair, both shaking their heads. “She wasn’t supposed to come in until after I left this morning, but I don’t know why she would still be at home. She didn’t feel really well last night, but…” Even though someone else had surely already tried something as simple as calling her, Arizona dug her phone out of the pocket of her coat and held the speed dial for Callie.

Her anxiety only rose when there was no answer. Shaking her head at Owen, he rubbed his bearded jaw as they both tried to think. “And she’s not in her lab?”

“No, I just checked,” Arizona answered him. “And she’s not answering her phone. I’m going to go home and look for her. Can you get Karev or Dr. Montgomery to cover for me? If you page him, I’m sure she’ll come along,” she said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. She knew both of them too well to think they were just flirting to mess with her.

The house was dark and quiet when she got home, leaving the door open behind her as she ran straight up the stairs. Their bed was empty, the sheets rumpled. That didn’t mean anything - Callie wasn’t one to make the bed. Muttering anxiously under her breath, Arizona went back down the stairs, dialing Callie again as she took the steps two at a time. “Come on, baby, answer the phone,” she pleaded with the ringer, growing more worried by the second.

Leaving a message, she hung up and drove back to the hospital, leaving the house empty behind her. Owen was in the ER as she entered, but he just shook his head, a frown settling into the deep lines between his eyes as he watched her run through his Emergency Room.

She didn’t hang up the phone, just constantly dialing and redialing Callie while she rechecked every room she could think that her wife might have gone to. Arizona wasn’t even sure what floor she was on by the time she threw open an on-call room door to spot a familiar head of dark hair on the bottom bunk.

“Oh, thank God,” she sighed, hanging up the phone as she heard Callie’s phone buzzing on the sheets and shooting a text to Owen to let him know that the missing Ortho surgeon had been found. Her relief at finding her was short-lived as she reached to shake Callie awake and felt the heat of fever radiating through her clothes. “Oh my God!”

Thumbing a button, she called Owen. “I found her but there’s something wrong. She’s feverish.” Callie stirred under her touch, grunting in protest and trying to move away. She didn’t open her eyes, though. “We’re in an on-call room on three, I think, about halfway between the nurses’ station and the elevators.”

He promised that he was on his way and Arizona shoved her phone back into her coat pocket, leaning over Callie. “Calliope, baby, wake up,” she coaxed gently, drawing another groan as Callie flinched away from her touch. Hushing her, Arizona checked the pulse in her neck with two fingers, anxiety making her forget the presence of the stethoscope in her pocket. “Callie?”

Brown eyes forced themselves to flicker open, finding her in the dimness after a few seconds of searching. “Hey,” Callie ground out, her voice hoarse. A cough echoed her greeting. “I don’t feel good.” The coughing grew worse. “I think I’m sick.”

“I know you are,” Arizona agreed softly, testing her forehead again with one hand. “You’re burning up. And you missed your surgery. What’s the last thing you remember?”

More coughing, Callie’s body curling in on itself. “I came in here to lay down just for a minute.” She grimaced painfully. “I missed my surgery? What the…?”

Arizona sighed, kneeling next to the bed. “Calliope, you’ve been in here for hours. You weren’t answering your phone. We’ve been trying to find you. I went home, checked the lab…” she choked without meaning to, “I’ve been so worried about you…”

Callie’s frown was distracted, but she reached up unsteadily to find Arizona’s face with one hand, Arizona’s free hand covering it to keep from getting poked in the eye. “Ariz-ona,” an involuntary sigh split up her name. “M’sorry.”

“Shh, no, it’s okay. Owen’s coming and we’re going to get you checked out and figure out why you’re so hot,” Arizona reassured them both, smoothing hair back from her face gently.

“Hot,” Callie echoed, too fuzzy and exhausted to be witty. And she loved Arizona, she really did, more than anything, but all she wanted to do at that exact moment was to go back to the unconscious place she’d been before her wife had dragged her awake. But fainting would only scare the worried woman who loved her, so Callie endeavored to keep herself awake. “Talk to me,” she requested drowsily.

It brought a smile to Arizona’s lips, the blonde leaning over to kiss her forehead softly, Callie following her cool lips unconsciously. “You’re beautiful,” Arizona whispered, Callie’s scoffing laugh becoming a choking cough. 

“Liar,” Callie said when she could, blinking reddened eyes at her.

Owen’s arrival brought a relieved sigh from Arizona, the blonde moving to give him room next to the bed. Checking Callie quickly, he nodded for Arizona to help him. “Callie, baby, we’re going to help you sit up, okay? Just slide your arm around my neck,” she coaxed, guiding the arm behind her head. Callie fumbled but obeyed, her eyes falling closed again. “Stay awake for me, sweetie,” Arizona whispered, exchanging anxious glances with Owen.

“Let’s get her a CBC, try and figure out what she’s got,” he said calmly, his own grip steady as he coached them out of the on-call room and Callie into a waiting wheelchair.

“I can draw the blood and do the tests. I’m sure you’ve got work to do,” Arizona offered, though she was still obviously anxious.

He just shook his head patiently at her. “No, Dr. Robbins. This is your wife. You can’t treat her.”

Arizona rolled her eyes toward him, seeing his excuse for what it was. “Owen…” She sighed. “Thank you.” She’d be a shaky mess if she had to stick Callie with a needle right now. And that wouldn’t do either one of them any good.

She stayed at the wheelchair’s side as he pushed it toward an exam room, helping Callie up and onto the bed while Owen pulled on some gloves and set up an IV of fluids. Callie groaned when he drew her blood, Arizona finding her hand and holding it. “Callie, what symptoms are you having?”

Shaking her head in an attempt to clear it, Callie rubbed at her eyes. “Coughing, fever, chills, achy, I’m lightheaded, and I don’t remember the last time I actually ate anything, so I’m more than likely dehydrated…”

“Calliope!” Arizona rebuked her shortly. “Why didn’t you tell me it was that bad? You just said you didn’t feel good!”

“Well, I’m sorry you don’t feel well, Callie, but it doesn’t sound like anything serious,” Owen reminded Arizona mildly, sharing a patient smile with Callie. “We’ll check if it’s bacterial or viral and we’ll get you some medication.”

“Thank you, Owen,” said Callie, rubbing Arizona’s hand soothingly and drawing her to sit on the edge of the bed. He smiled and left them, Callie dropping her head back against the pillows. “I’m fine, Arizona.”

A scoff answered her, fingers squeezing her hand. “You are clearly not fine, Calliope! And you didn’t tell me! I could have - I wouldn’t have freaked out…”

“Yes, you would have,” Callie disagreed, smiling weakly at her.

Arizona sighed, almost pouting. “Okay, yeah, I probably would have, but…”

“I didn’t want to worry you,” interjected the Latina softly. “I’m sorry. Addison is here, and you guys had your big surgery…”

“Calliope Torres, if you think anything is more important to me than you are…” Arizona started, voice sharp and short. There was no one or nothing more important to her than her wife and if Callie didn’t know that…

“I’m not dying, Arizona,” Callie reminded her, keeping her own tone soft. “I just have a cold.”

Blue eyes just narrowed at her. “A cold you apparently haven’t done anything to take care of!” Arizona shot back. “You haven’t been eating, Calliope! And you’re dehydrated! You were fainted in an on-call room and couldn’t hear your phone!” Hearing it listed out all at once, it didn’t sound great and Callie grimaced. “Exactly,” Arizona said, still short. Seeing her partner’s meek expression, she softened. Callie was going to be okay, nothing bad had happened. She breathed a sigh of relief, picking up Callie’s hand and kissing the back. “I just want you to be okay.”

“I’m going to be fine,” Callie promised. “Tell me how your surgery went. Is the baby okay?”

Relaxing into her seat at the edge of the bed, Arizona pulled Callie’s hand onto her leg, playing idly with her fingers. “It went really well. She’s going to be fine as long as there aren’t any complications. Addie says the mom might actually have to be in the hospital longer than the baby.”

“That’s so great, babe!” the Latina said excitedly, her voice rough and hoarse. “You guys should go celebrate tonight!”

Blinking, the blonde frowned lightly. “What? Calliope, I’m not leaving you home alone when you don’t feel good!”

Callie laughed. “Arizona, you should visit with your friend. I’ll just get cozy on the couch with a movie and you’ll see me when you get home. There’s no reason for you to stay home just because I’m sick.”

“Calliope…”

“Arizona…” Callie matched her tone and smiled tiredly. “I wish I could rock your world and let you know how proud of you I am, but you deserve to celebrate the awesome work you did today. Please go out?” she requested, pulling out the puppy eyes she knew Arizona couldn’t resist.

Sighing, Arizona relented. “You’re kind of mean when you’re sick, you know that?”

“You should have fun with your friend,” insisted Callie, coughing lightly. “Not sit around the house and watch me watch TV. I’ll be here in two days, but Addison’s got to go back to L.A., doesn’t she?”

Arizona knew she was right, and appreciated the thoughtfulness, but she didn’t like the thought of Callie sick and alone at home. “Yes, but…”

“No buts,” she interjected, shaking her head. “It’s settled. You’re going out.”

Owen’s return prefaced any response from Arizona, the Trauma surgeon sliding on a new pair of gloves and prepping an injection. “It’s viral and going around, so this should help you feel better soon.” Callie offered her arm with a sigh, squeezing Arizona’s hand as she felt the needle prick her. “And I let the Chief know you were going home.”

“Thank you, Owen,” Callie said graciously, clearly tired.

Arizona considered her as the redhead left them again. “I will go out tonight under two - no, three conditions,” she bargained. Callie lifted an eyebrow to show that she was listening. “Number one, you will sleep in here until I get off work so I can take you home. I don’t want you driving if you’re so sick.” Amused, Callie smiled quietly. “Number two, I’m not leaving tonight until you eat something. So, on the way home, I’m stopping and getting you some soup and I want you to eat it.” Callie murmured something that sounded like ‘bossy’ but Arizona ignored her. “Number three, I will call Timothy every hour to make sure that you’re parked on the couch, preferably sleeping.”

“Doesn’t Tim have a date with Teddy tonight?”

“Not anymore he doesn’t,” Arizona declared stubbornly. “Do you agree to the conditions?”

“Do I have a choice?” Callie asked through a cough, her eyes already sliding closed helplessly.

“Nope,” said the blonde, leaning in to peck her cheek gently. “You get started on term number one and I’ll come check on you in a little bit.”

Callie coughed, shaking her head in denial. “How about this?” she asked over Arizona’s protest. “We go home and I’ll lay down upstairs and you and Addison and Teddy and the boys can all have the living room, but I’ll be close by so you can check on me all the time.”

Pursing her lips, the blonde considered. She would like to spend time with Addison, but leaving Callie home like this wasn’t an option she liked. “Girls’ night, no boys, but I want you on the couch where I can keep an eye on you,” she bargained. Fingers combed through dark hair tenderly, Callie nuzzling her face into the touch.

“You take good care of me,” murmured the Latina, breathing slowly.

“I try,” Arizona countered, free hand fussing with the blankets. “Do we have a deal?”

One brown eye peeked open. “You really want to spend your night at home, making Addison and Teddy sit around the house so you can make sure I’m sleeping?” She looked doubtful, even with only one eye open. “I really won’t be upset if you want to go out. You deserve to celebrate.”

“I really want to stay home with my sick wife, taking care of you,” Arizona insisted, smiling. Even sick, Callie was beautiful. And she had a not so secret fondness for drowsy Calliope. “Now will you please go to sleep and I’ll come get you in a little while?” she requested, kissing her between the eyes again.

Callie was obedient for the rest of the day, dozing in the commandeered exam room and curling under a blanket on the couch at home with a bowl of soup within reach on the coffee table. Arizona didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty either as she shot a warning look across the room at Addison as the redhead dropped her bag noisily on the floor.

“Arizona, sweetheart,” Callie called her down calmly, eyes closed. “I really do appreciate you looking after me, but you guys don’t have to be quiet. I’m going to be sleeping through everything tonight, I think.”

And she was right, dozing off in only a few minutes. Arizona stayed close though, sitting on the floor in front of the couch, Addison across the coffee table from her. The Neonatal surgeon just watched with a smile as her friend adjusted the blanket over her wife’s sleeping form. “I’m sorry I haven’t gotten to see much of her.” She laughed quietly as Arizona looked back at her. Her feeling for her partner was clear on her face. “You’ve got it bad, girl.”

“Of course,” Arizona said, unable to help smiling. “I married her, Addie.”

“I know. I’ve just never seen you like this with anyone.”

Because she’d never been with anyone like Callie before. And no one she’d ever known made her feel the way Callie made her feel. “I don’t really know how to explain it,” she said softly. “She’s everything I want. And she amazes me every single day that I’m with her.” A grin split her face as she looked back down at Callie then across the room at her friend. “I get to have that for the rest of my life. How freaking lucky am I?”

Sighing enviously, Addison leaned forward to swat her shoulder lightly. “Lucky. Damn lucky. Lucky enough to make me almost hate you. If only you hadn’t married someone so incredible and made it harder for me.”

“You barely even met her! Which I hate, by the way. I wanted you two to get to know each other,” Arizona complained lightly, relaxing back against the couch. “You guys would really get along, I think.”

“Well, I’m sure you know this about the place you work, but people talk around that place,” Addison said with a laugh, Arizona rolling her eyes. “But people like her there. The talk I heard was all good. There was some mention of her husband, though…”

Blue eyes narrowed. “Did Alex tell you about that? Because we might not have a boss to threaten him with anymore, but I can still find a way to get him.”

“It wasn’t Alex,” Addison said with a laugh. “But it did make me slightly curious.”

Arizona sighed. “They were only married for a few months before she moved here. And both of them admit that it was a mistake. They’re divorced,” she recited the simplified summary of events.

“But he came here after her?” the redhead asked mildly.

“She’s married to me now, Addison. Drop it,” Arizona instructed. “I’m not George O’Malley. Marrying her was the best thing I’ve ever done. And I would never cheat on her like he did.”

Clearing her throat, Addison wisely agreed. “That’s what I hear about the two of you - that you’re ridiculously in love and happy. Everyone that talked to me said the same thing.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” Arizona muttered, both of them looking across the dim room to where Teddy was letting herself in, her arms loaded down with supplies for their girls’ night. “About time you got here,” the seated blonde greeted her with a grin.

They were on their third glass of wine and their first movie and Arizona was still turning every few minutes to check on Callie, who was still sleeping peacefully. Addison pushed a refilled wineglass into her hand with a playful twinkle in her blue eyes. “You really are different with her, Robbins. It’s a good different, though.”

Teddy chimed in around a mouthful of chips, “They’ve been disgustingly into each other since their second date!” She took a sip from her beer, eyes narrowed at her best friend. “And their first date wasn’t even a date! They got drunk and went home together!”

“Hey!” Arizona barked in her own defense, unintentionally too loud. Callie didn’t stir though. “You were at our wedding!”

“Which I wasn’t invited to!” Addison added, getting in on the teasing of the Peds surgeon.

Throwing up both hands, Arizona finished her wine and stood up, catching herself on the edge of the sofa. “I’m getting the whisky from the kitchen. Who needs? Addie, I’d invite you to my next wedding, but I’m making sure this one sticks. And Teddy, if we’re so disgusting you don’t have to hang out at our house all the time.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t like it. I was just commenting that it’s been going on since the beginning,” Teddy defended herself, draining her beer and holding out the empty bottle. “And a fresh one, please and thank you.”

“Tell me more about this beginning,” Addison requested of the heart surgeon, sipping slowly on her own wine.


	7. Chapter 7

By the time they were slowing down on the drinks and the talking, Arizona was listening to her friends laughing as though they were old friends while she, decidedly less drunk than either of them, tidied up and tried to anticipate anything Callie might need through the night and in the morning. At least drinking with Teddy had kept Addison from sleeping with Alex. “Shh,” she hushed them, the lack of light in the room meaning that they were lit by just the blue flickering glow of the television.

The other two women hushed each other and then broke into drunken giggles. “Shut up!”

“No, you shut up!”

“Both of you, shut up!” Arizona gave the final word as a key slipped into the front door. Tim opened the door and stepped inside. Arizona leaned over the back of the couch to brush dark hair back, kissing Callie’s temple softly as she greeted her brother with a smile. “Hey,” she whispered. “What are you doing here? You’re hardly here anymore.”

He grinned, gesturing to Teddy. “You’ve gone and liquored up my girl,” he reasoned, crossing his arms over his chest. “How’s yours?”

“She’s been sleeping pretty much since we got home,” Arizona answered, unconsciously mirroring his pose. “But she ate some soup and she’s been drinking water.”

“Did you ladies have a nice night?” Tim asked, Teddy rounding the couch (and miraculously not tripping over anything) and throwing her arms around him.

Teddy and Addison promptly pointed across the room at each other. “She’s awesome!” they declared in unison.

“They’re drunk,” Arizona translated patiently, rolling her eyes. “Could you be the best brother ever and get them some coffee? Decaf?”

Tim obliged with a smile, steadying Teddy on her feet. “Let me know if you need any help with Callie.”

Moving around the couch, Arizona shifted the pizza box Teddy had brought to the floor so she could sit on the coffee table in front of Callie. She leaned over with her elbows on her knees, reaching forward to stroke her cheek, the touch drawing her eyes open with a soft sigh. Arizona was relieved to feel that the feverish heat of Callie’s skin appeared to have gone down since the last time she had checked.

“Hey, gorgeous,” she whispered, cupping her cheek. “How are you feeling?”

Callie yawned, stretching. “I feel a little better. Not as warm.” Even as she said it, she shivered under the blankets. “How was your night? D’you have fun?” she asked with a sleepy smile that was completely charming.

Arizona couldn’t resist switching her seat on the low table for the edge of the cushion in front of Callie. Hands on her hips helped guide her into the curve of the brunette’s body, Arizona resting her arm up Callie’s side to trail her fingers across her face. “We did have fun,” Arizona said softly. “I wish you were feeling better though.”

“You just like me with some tequila in me,” Callie teased, blinking as she turned her head back into the pillow.

A dimpled smirk appeared. “Well, yeah, I guess I do.” Gentle fingers stroked through her hair. “Sleep and some food looks good in you too,” she added.

Strong arms wrapped her up, tugging her impossibly closer. “I’m glad you stayed home. I would have missed you,” she said in a burst of unselfconscious confession. She turned her head to look up at Arizona, blinking slowly in the dark. “Can we go to bed? M’still sleepy.”

Stretching, Arizona nodded willingly. “I would love to go to bed.” She was surprised by her own earnestness. She wanted nothing more than to slide into bed with her wife and spend the night wrapped up in her arms.

Callie sat up slowly, eyes closing as she felt a wave of lightheadedness. Arizona guided an arm around her shoulders and she smiled gratefully. “Thanks.”

“I’m not going to let you fall. Just lean on me,” Arizona coaxed, helping her stay steady while they stood. Raising her voice slightly to be heard in the kitchen, she called, “We’re heading upstairs. Have fun sleeping it off!” Grumbles and giggles echoed behind them.

Keeping the lights off in their room, they changed in the dark, leaving clothes where they dropped. Normally it would drive Arizona crazy to leave a mess, but it was easy to ignore in the dark. Callie moaned lightly as she settled into the sheets. “Brr,” she whispered, whining a little. “They’re cold.”

“I’m coming,” Arizona promised with a private smile. Miami-girl Callie hated to be cold. Callie already had the covers pulled back for her and the blonde twitched herself as she touched the cool sheets. The warm body that curled against her back helped though. And the hand that slid over her hipbone to palm her stomach did even more toward warming her up.

Then there was the warm breath on her ear, the warm lips trailing down the side of her neck. “Love you,” Callie murmured, her eyes already closed.

The simple words made her heart skip a beat and Arizona dragged her fingers over the arm wrapped around her. “I love you too.”

It was still dark and Callie was fuzzy as she woke up, groggy and out of it until she heard the hoarse breathing from the other side of the bed. Her first thought was that she’d gotten Arizona sick but then choked sobs reached her ears and she instinctively closed the space between them, wrapping both arms around her wife’s shaking form. “Arizona, please, what’s wrong?” she pleaded hoarsely, hanging on just a little tighter when the blonde tried to move.

“You need to sleep,” Arizona reminded her, trying again to shift. “I didn’t mean to wake you up. I’ll just go downstairs.”

“You’re not going anywhere crying,” said Callie, keeping her voice low. It wasn’t light outside, but she couldn’t turn to see the time. Not if it meant Arizona might slip out of her arms. “Talk to me,” she requested. “Please.” Arizona hiccupped back more tears. “Or don’t talk if you don’t want to,” Callie added. “Just stay with me and cry if you need to.”

Relenting, Arizona turned into her, burying her face in Callie’s shoulder and sobbing. Arizona wasn’t loud when she cried, just tears and trembling. It broke Callie’s heart every single time. Her own sickly mental haze was pushed aside in the need to comfort Arizona. The blonde’s hands were wound tight in her shirt and Callie stroked her hair, her back, anything she could hope would comfort her clearly hurting wife. What the hell could have happened though? Arizona hadn’t left their bed since they’d climbed into it.

“Wallace… he-he-he…”

Arizona’s whimper explained everything. Her patient had held on longer than anyone could have expected him to before he’d finally slipped into a coma, his body too small, too tired from fighting his disease for so much of his young life. Life support was not a permanent solution though, and Arizona had advised the Andersons that he wasn’t likely to wake up. It had been torment for everyone to see him like that.

“Sweetheart, I’m so sorry,” Callie whispered, holding her tighter and unconsciously rocking her as best she could from their position on their sides. “I’m so sorry.” She’d do anything to be able to take this pain from Arizona, shield her from it, but all she could do was give her partner a safe place to let it out. And even as Arizona cried on her shoulder, she was a little grateful that the Chief had called Arizona at home in the middle of the night instead of waiting to tell her in the morning at work where the blonde would have undoubtedly bottled up all this grief. “I’ve got you, sweetheart,” Callie soothed her, closing her eyes as she felt tears soaking through her shirt. “I love you, Arizona. I love you more than anything.” 

Callie was choking up herself and she was surprised when Arizona hummed against her chest. “Bad dreams, bad…”

“What? Sweetie…?”

“B-bad dre-ams, go away. Good dreams, good d-dreams, here to stay…” Arizona’s pained whimper broke her heart as the blonde collapsed into further tears. “You have to - three times.” She couldn’t speak further for sobbing and burrowed back into Callie’s warm, safe support.

Catching her breath, Callie kissed the top of her head and wrapped her arms even more securely around her crying, broken wife. “Bad dreams, bad dreams, go away. Good dreams, good dreams, here to stay,” she whispered, humming softly. “Bad dreams, bad dreams, go away. Good dreams, good dreams, here to stay. Bad dreams, bad dreams, go away. Good dreams, good dreams, here to stay. Like that?” Arizona nodded against her shoulder but didn’t lift her head, squirming a leg between Callie’s so that they were hopelessly tangled together.

Waking up the next morning, Arizona found Callie sprawled across the rest of the bed, one arm thrown heavily over her shoulders. She slipped free with a sad but loving smile, crawling back to kiss her cheek softly. The fever appeared to have broken sometime in the night because Callie’s skin felt normal. Her breathing was still slightly raspy, but she was sleeping peacefully and Arizona slid out of bed with a final soft kiss. She didn’t know how she’d gotten so lucky, but she was grateful everyday that Callie Torres had been the one she’d picked up in Joe’s that night. She needed to send that man a gift, now that she was thinking about it. Because she dealt with patients dying, had had nights like the one she’d had last night, but the only way she’d been able to sleep, to get through it, was in Callie’s arms.

She laughed when she found Addison slumped over the kitchen counter watching the coffee drip into the pot. “Good morning?” Arizona asked wickedly. She’d drunk decidedly less than either of her friends but she knew what their hangovers had to feel like.

“No,” the redhead groaned. “Thank you for not having obnoxiously loud sex like Teddy did.”

Arizona groaned as well, hating the image that flashed through her head. “Oh, come on! That’s gross! And mean!” Taking two mugs down, she made sure to clink them together close to Addison’s ear, the taller woman jerking upright and glaring at her.

“Okay, fine, I’m sorry! Can I please have some coffee?”

Pouring them each a mug, Arizona handed it over and Addison took hers to the table, slumping into a chair and taking a sip of her drink, hissing at the heat. Arizona just leaned back against the kitchen counter while she blew on her own coffee. Standing in her kitchen, the love of her life sleeping upstairs, and her brother down the hall, her friends scattered around - her life was pretty perfect at the moment, even after what she’d gone through last night.

There was just one thing she wasn’t sure about. Something Callie wanted. She claimed to be willing to give it up for her, but she had promised to think about it, promised to try and want it too. Even after last night, the pain of losing a child, a pain she knew would be exponentially worse if it was her own child, she had made a promise to Callie and she was going to do her best to keep it. And there was no one better to help her with it than the woman sitting at her coffee table.

“Hey, can I talk to you about something?” Arizona asked before she could lose her nerve.

Addison could hear the serious tone in her friend’s voice and her brows furrowed over her coffee. “Of course. What’s up?”

“It’s kind of… Callie wants a baby.”

That got the redhead up straight in her seat, blinking wide eyes at her. “Wha-Arizona! You - do you - you always said… This isn’t something you guys just talked about last night, is it?”

Arizona laughed dryly, curling both hands around her mug, glad for the smooth warmth of the porcelain on her skin. Watching the steady surface of her coffee gave her a focus to keep her hands from shaking. “No, Addie. We’ve talked about it. We wouldn’t have gotten married without coming to an understanding about a baby.”

“Does that mean you want a baby now?” Addison asked eagerly, smile growing on her lips. “Because I would be so willing to help you with that! And how cute would that baby be?! No matter which one of you it looked like, it would be adorable!” Her voice was rising in pitch and volume and Arizona hushed her, still chuckling.

“I don’t know, Addie. I want to want a baby. Because Callie would be an amazing mother. And I want to see that. I really do. And she said she wouldn’t do it without me. She wants to raise a tiny human with me! But it scares the hell out of me to say that I can give her that.” She sipped her coffee, meeting her friend’s eyes solidly.

“What can I do? I can help you guys have a baby, but I don’t know what you want me to do here,” Addison asked curiously.

Arizona shrugged. “Tell me something that will make it less terrifying?” she nervously requested. Because the thought of opening herself up to pain like last night scared the shit out of her. Other people could do that, Callie could do that, because she had the biggest heart of anyone she’d ever known, but she wasn’t one of those people.

The redhead smiled slowly, shaking her head. “Arizona Robbins, you’re worried about a kid that’s not even made yet. But you don’t think every parent out there hasn’t been terrified at the thought of having a baby? It’s a scary thought!”

“This really isn’t what I meant,” Arizona commented, swallowing hard.

“Arizona, worrying about their kids is what a parent does. I think you’re doing fine with it,” Addison said, still smiling. “You’re just not ready yet. And there’s nothing wrong with that. You’re newlyweds, surgeons, there’s a lot going on in your life. Just give yourself some time. Someday maybe it won’t feel so scary. Because you’ll be doing it with Callie.” Arizona smiled unconsciously. She could do anything with Callie. “And whenever that day comes, you call me and we’ll help you knock up your woman,” Addison finished, putting emphasis on the instruction to call her.

Arizona had to roll her eyes to keep them from rolling back in her head at the sudden mental image of Callie pregnant. Because it was undeniably one of the most beautiful things she’d ever imagined. The reality was sure to blow her away. “Oh my God…” 

It didn’t come out as annoyed as she meant it to though (rather more enraptured) and Addison’s smile grew. “You totally want to have a baby!” she crowed eagerly, clapping her hands. “But Arizona, I swear to God, if I don’t hear from you until your kid’s third birthday - I will hurt you!”

Footsteps padded down the stairs and Arizona sent her a sharp look, the redhead miming locking her lips up tight, though she couldn’t wipe the smile off her lips. Callie was tousling her dark hair as she rounded the banister, looking sleepy and utterly sexy. Arizona bit her lip, had to hold onto the counter to keep from going to meet her, sweeping her up, and dragging her back to bed.

Addison knowingly cleared her throat and the blonde snapped out of it, Callie smiling shyly as she entered the kitchen. “Good morning,” she said, hoarse voice not detracting from her effect on Arizona, taking the seat at the end of the table while Arizona filled up a coffee mug for her and mixed it. “Thank you,” she hummed appreciatively, catching the strap of Arizona’s tank top to kiss her cheek. She pushed her back when the blonde shifted to kiss her lips. “I’m still sick, sweetheart.”

“So what?” Arizona countered, almost pouting. Her wife was walking around like sleepy sex on legs and she didn’t even get a kiss because of some stupid virus? Hell no! “Just a quick one?”

Smirking, Addison slurped noisily on her coffee, drawing looks from both of the other two women. “I think you should kiss her,” she threw in her two cents worth.

Arizona quickly nodded, pleading blue eyes adding to the enticement. “Fine, but no tongues,” Callie bargained, eyebrow arching.

“No fair! It’s not like I’ve been smoking!” the blonde argued.

It was the wrong argument to make and Callie’s brown eyes narrowed. “If you had been smoking you’d be cut off from more than just kissing, Arizona Robbins!”

Arizona cut her off by kissing her, sucking on her bottom lip but obediently keeping her tongue out of her wife’s mouth. “No cigarettes,” she promised in a whisper. “You can frisk me if you want, though.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Callie breathed back, lips dragging against Arizona’s as she spoke.

“Yes!” agreed Arizona earnestly, letting herself be dragged down into the chair across from Addison. “I’d be sure you have fun too, babe! You know I’m good for it!”

The Latina smirked, eyebrow arching at her partner. Arizona seemed much better this morning than she’d been expecting. Addison’s presence might have something to do with that, but she wasn’t seeing Arizona’s guarded expression in her face like she had anticipated. It was possible she’d cried it out last night and was genuinely feeling better. Wallace had been sick for a long time and his death wasn’t exactly a surprise, as horrible as the thought was. “Are you trying to tell me you’ve got cigarettes hidden somewhere?”

Thinking twice about her teasing, Arizona blinked and shook her head. “Oh, um, no. Nope, no cigarettes. I swear!”

“You started smoking again?” Addison asked, sounding annoyed herself. “Why in the hell…?”

“It was one time!” Callie cleared her throat pointedly. “It was one period of time,” the blonde clarified. “One brief period of time.”

“And I understand that you were upset, but if you ever touch another one…” Meeting blue eyes, she asked a silent question - Is this another time you need a cigarette?

“I know!” Arizona cut in. “Believe me, I have no desire to sleep on the couch, Calliope.” Her silent answer was a negative. Callie really did make every single thing in her life better, just by being there. And maybe she’d needed cigarettes to cope before, but now she had Callie.

“And it’s a bad habit for the kids to pick up on,” Addison chimed in without thinking, Arizona’s head rolling sideways to glare at her friend. “Um…”

Callie laughed as Arizona let her head thump against the table, muttering under her breath and bouncing her skull against the tabletop. “It’s fine. The hypothetical kids aren’t smoking either.” Fingers in blonde hair stopped the repeated head thumping. “Please stop that, Arizona. Hearing the word ‘kids’ is not going to make me go baby crazy. Don’t worry.”

Realizing that this wasn’t a conversation they should be having in front of Addison, Arizona picked her head up to meet Callie’s smile, fingers bunching and releasing in the back of her hair. “This conversation is in a different place than it started,” she joked lightly, relieved by Callie’s easy smile.

“Not really,” Addison scoffed into her coffee.

Callie caught Arizona’s head before she could bang it on the table again. “Arizona, it’s okay.”

Blue eyes glared at the blushing neonatal surgeon. “And I was sad you were leaving. Not so much when you keep opening your mouth and trying to ruin my life!”

“Nothing’s ruined, Arizona,” Callie said patiently, rolling her eyes. “I’m not ready to have a baby. And I know you’re not. I know you might not ever be ready. And I said that I’m fine with that and I meant it.” Their eyes met and Arizona could see the truth in brown depths. Callie had said she would wait for her and she meant it. And if she never got past this, if she couldn’t ever give Callie a baby, Callie still wasn’t going anywhere. Her heart felt too full suddenly. Callie’s head inclined slowly, giving her a gradual nod before her gaze jumped to their guest. “Addison, I’m sorry I haven’t gotten to spend much time with you this visit.”

“You didn’t know you were going to get sick, much less that I was coming,” Addison said, smiling cheerfully. “Congratulations on the wedding, by the way.”

Callie matched her smile, the pair toasting with their coffee mugs. “Thank you.”

“And, hey, I owe you guys, so anytime you guys want to come down to L.A. for a vacation, you’re welcome to stay with me,” offered the redhead.

“Ooh, we want to do that!” Arizona said quickly, letting her fingers twine through Callie’s on the table. “I guarantee Addie’s got a nice place. You should have seen our place in college! It was amazing!”

Coughing lightly, Callie nodded. “That would be great. Thank you for the offer, Addie,” she said genuinely.

Arizona swallowed abruptly, unconsciously gathering her nerve. “And Addison works at a fertility clinic, so maybe she can help us have a baby someday.” She wasn’t ready yet. They weren’t ready yet. But it didn’t mean she wasn’t trying. The matching looks of slack-jawed surprise made it completely worth the sudden fast pace of her heart.


	8. Chapter 8

“Dr. Robbins, there you are!” The sound of the Chief’s voice drew Arizona to a sharp stop on her wheels, the Peds surgeon wincing as she waited for a rebuke from her boss for her shoes. “I’d like to see you in my office if you have a few minutes.”

Confused, she nodded. There was a stack of charts in her hands but she had no surgeries for a few hours. “I can be up in just a couple of minutes, sir,” she hesitantly agreed.

“Very good, Dr. Robbins.”

She was frowning as she put the charts back in their rack behind the desk, Alex giving her a confused look of his own as he scanned the row for a chart. “What’s up with you?”

“The Chief just called me to his office.” What the hell could she have done? All of their surgeries had been textbook lately. And she and Callie hadn’t even gotten close to getting busted fooling around. Unless there were some kind of security cameras they didn’t know about…

“What’d you do, boss?” he asked with a laugh. “Did we do something we weren’t supposed to that I didn’t know about?”

Arizona shrugged, shaking her head as she racked her brain. “I have no idea, but I’m totally willing to throw you under the bus if you did something wrong, Karev.” They grinned at each other. It was a lie. They’d had each others’ backs for years and that wasn’t going to change.

“You still scrubbing in on the lung resection?” he checked, finding the chart he needed.

“You got it. Just page Dr. Altman and I’ll observe if you need me.” Alex held up a fist for a fist bump, Arizona supplying it with a weak smile, her dimples shallow. It was a reassuring gesture and she swallowed hard.

The elevator was crowded as she went to board, a hand catching her elbow and her nervous gaze found Callie’s eyes. “Hey, you. I was looking for you!” Callie was clearly pleased to see her, immediately finding her hand and grinning.

“Here I am,” Arizona said, biting her lip as she forced a smile.

A frown appeared as Callie registered her wife’s anxiety. “Hey, what’s wrong? What happened?”

“Webber wants to see me in his office about something.”

“You don’t know what about?” Arizona just shook her head, Callie’s hands on her shoulders keeping her from pacing. “Well, don’t worry. You’re an amazing doctor, Peds has never run more smoothly, the parents love you. Everyone loves you, Arizona…”

Blue eyes rolled even as she smiled weakly. Callie made her feel better. About everything. A smile from her was all it took. “You’re my wife, you have to say that.”

“No, I don’t,” Callie objected with a grin, ducking her head to meet Arizona’s eyes again. “It would make me kind of sucky, but I don’t have to say anything. I’m not going to lie to stroke your ego,” she teased lightly, pleased when it succeeded in getting a real smile. “Will you let me know what’s up later?”

Arizona nodded and Callie gently pushed hair behind her ear. “Yeah, of course. I’ve got a surgery with Karev, but I shouldn’t have to scrub, so I’ll call you.”

Exchanging nods, Arizona caught the elevator door and got on with a few nurses. The ride to the main floor didn’t take long but the quiet was making her nerves rise again. She tried to recapture the feeling of Callie’s reassurance, but knocking on the door drove that comfort away. Damn authority issues.

“Come in,” Webber called through the door.

Arizona entered, drawing back in surprise when the office wasn’t empty, a woman in a suit sitting on the Chief’s leather couch. “Oh, I’m sorry. You’re in a meeting…”

“Dr. Robbins, come in,” he insisted lightly, already smiling at her. If she was focused enough to notice his expression, she’d have been freaked right to hell. “Arizona Robbins, this is Dr. Jennifer Madison. Dr. Madison is a representative from the Carter Madison award committee.”

Beginning to understand, Arizona’s mouth fell open but she swallowed, offering a hand. “Dr. Madison, nice to meet you.” The other woman was taller than she was, taller than Callie even, with dark red hair that flowed in waves down her shoulders to reach mid-back, and legs that appeared to go for miles below the hem of her pinstriped pencil skirt.

“Very nice to meet you, Dr. Robbins. And I’m sure you have at least a suspicion as to why I’m here, so I won’t waste your time. Your proposal about surgical care in second and third-world countries, the committee would like to fund it.”

“Fund it?” Arizona asked curiously, not sure she was understanding.

“We’d like to fund a surgical clinic in Africa. We’d pay for you to go to Malawi and save children who wouldn’t otherwise ever see a Pediatric surgeon. You could change a lot of lives, Dr. Robbins.”

There was a pause, Arizona glancing between the two other people in the room, catching sight of the Chief’s conflicted expression. On the one hand, a Carter Madison grant winner on staff would be prestige out the ass for the hospital. On the other hand, if she was in Africa his hospital had no Head of Peds and lost an attending surgeon in one.

And that was saying nothing of Calliope…

She’d been in a completely different place in her life when she’d applied for the Carter Madison - a resident, single, happy to go drink after work with Alex and compete to pick up girls at the bar. Now she was an attending, a department head, with an amazing student and an even more incredible wife.

Seeing her hesitation, Dr. Madison spoke up quickly, eager to get an agreement from her. “Dr. Webber informed me that there might be some family reasons that you might be… hesitant to commit, but if you’re willing to give some surgeons in Africa some basic training on cases they might see more often there than we do here, your part of the set up could only take months.”

Months was better than years, but still… She wasn’t just speaking for herself anymore. She had a partner she answered to. Swallowing, she nodded slowly. “I appreciate the consideration, but I really can’t agree to anything until I talk to my wife,” Arizona explained. She wanted to help African kids, really, she did, but she knew agreeing to do this without talking to Callie first would end far worse for her than simply sleeping on the couch.

“I understand, Dr. Robbins,” Jennifer said, smiling politely. “Of course you should discuss it with your wife. We do need an answer sooner rather than later, but absolutely take a few days to talk it over. And congratulations!” They exchanged another earnest handshake and Arizona nodded toward Dr. Webber as she left his office. She knew he would feel free to call her back in later to share his opinion about what she should do.

Retreating, Arizona paced the OR hallway but didn’t check on Alex’s surgery. If he needed her, he’d call. And not seeing her pacing in the gallery couldn’t hurt his confidence.

Africa. And the Carter Madison. It was a big deal. Huge deal. She could save so many lives.

But months away from Calliope? It made something in her chest ache. Months without seeing her smile or looking into her eyes? Months without touching her skin? Months of surviving on only phone calls to hear her voice?

But she could save children’s lives. Children who might never even see a doctor, much less a surgeon. And a few months was considerable, but it wasn’t years. And even with her hesitations about leaving Callie, she knew that she wanted to do it. But she couldn’t do it without Callie’s blessing.

Her fingers were already on the touch screen of her phone, the ringing making her nervous until it was cut off by Callie’s warm voice. “You’ve reached Dr. Callie Torres. I can’t answer the phone, but if you leave a name and number, I’ll call you back.”

Hanging up without leaving a message, Arizona glanced up at the surgical board. Of course Callie had gotten called in on a surgery. Damn it. There was nothing for it, though. She’d just have to stew until she could talk to her partner.

Too distracted to cut, Arizona kept to her office for the rest of the day, leaving as soon as her shift ended. She’d been thinking about her options all afternoon and trying to gauge the potential reactions from her wife. Callie was on her as soon as she came through the door, though arms wrapped tight around her and spinning was not one of the reactions she’d anticipated.

“How could you not tell me?” the Latina questioned, though her tone lacked the annoyance Arizona was expecting. “The whole hospital was talking about it!”

“About what?” Arizona asked nervously. Shit, shit, shit. How the hell had Richard let this slip to the whole hospital?

Callie put her back on her feet to lean back and stare incredulously at her. “About you winning the Carter Madison! Everyone knows!”

“Oh that,” the blonde sighed, secretly relieved. “Yeah!” She mustered some enthusiasm, forcing a smile.

“That’s all you’ve got for me?!” Callie countered. “This is amazing! Nobody wins the Carter Madison, Arizona! Nobody normal - just geeks!”

“Gee, thanks,” Arizona commented with a more natural smile, rolling her eyes. Callie was right. It was an amazing accomplishment, really. There were just… complications that her wife didn’t know about yet. “Calliope, I need to talk to you about that, the Carter Madison. It’s more than just the grant…”

Callie could see the seriousness in her expression and she nodded. “Okay,” she agreed slowly. “What’s up?”

Arizona broke free to pace, Callie backing up and taking a seat on the arm of the couch. “Okay, so, it’s not just money. They’re starting a surgical clinic for children that wouldn’t ever see a surgeon and they want me involved, they want me to train other doctors.”

“Well that sounds amazing, Arizona!” Callie said, not sure where the problem was. But there was clearly a problem coming.

Turning to face the fireplace, Arizona took a deep breath and held it, releasing it on a sigh. “The clinic’s in Africa.”

Callie felt her eyes go wide, suddenly wondering if she’d ever actually read Arizona’s Carter Madison grant proposal before. Because she was pretty sure she would remember Africa being a possibility.

“But it’s just for a few months and then I’d be home and…”

“You want to do it,” Callie breathed in realization, swallowing a lump in her throat. “You want to go to Africa.” Arizona still wasn’t looking at her and she sighed. “Turn around and look at me,” she demanded shortly. If they were having this conversation, they were going to do it face to face.

Arizona turned as ordered, her shoulders rising up around her ears. “Calliope…”

“Did you already say you would go?” Callie interjected to ask, still short and sharp.

“No! Of course not!” Arizona shot back. “I wouldn’t do that, Callie!” 

“But you do want to leave me?!”

“What the-? No! Calliope-”

The Latina was already storming past her, shaking off her hand when Arizona tried to grab her arm, but the blonde couldn’t help a stab of relief in the midst of the confused anxiety she was feeling that Callie didn’t go for the front door but for the stairs. “Don’t!” ordered Callie before Arizona could moved to follow her as she stomped upstairs.

Respecting her wish momentarily, Arizona paced at the bottom of the staircase. How the hell had this gotten so screwed up? And so freaking fast? It was a big thing she was asking for, she knew that. But leaving Calliope? It was inconceivable. It wasn’t leaving. It was just a shortish, long term trip. And then she’d be home and everything would go back to normal. But an entire African country and its children would have better healthcare. That wasn’t a bad result for a three month trip.

She glanced up the stairs, not sure what would be better to see, Callie still in their room, or Callie coming back down to fight this out with her. God help the other woman if she saw a suitcase though. There would be no leaving her before she was supposedly leaving Callie (because that was not what was happening, damn it!) She was prepared to fight dirty to keep her wife in their house. Callie was stronger than her, she knew that, but she had determination and a complete lack of respect for rules of combat. She’d grown up with the name Arizona - she’d learned how to fight dirty on the playground. And she was an adult now, a mature, responsible doctor, but some skills didn’t get rusty.

Arizona wasn’t sure how long it had been since Callie had left the room, but her body shot to its feet at the first creak of the stairs, tensed to fight, or possibly chase Callie down if the situation called for it. Brown eyes found her and an eyebrow arched curiously as Callie studied her for a moment. “You look like you’re about to take off running,” the brunette observed, her voice quiet.

“Are you going to make me chase after you?” countered Arizona, not relaxing her stance. “Because I will, Calliope. I’m not letting you go,” she declared fiercely.

“I’m not letting you go either,” Callie echoed, licking her lips.

Arizona’s shoulders slumped at the statement. She hadn’t really planned, didn’t know what to expect from Callie about her desire to go to Africa, but a flat denial with no discussion hadn’t been one of her more favorable outcomes. “Oh…”

“Not that,” clarified Callie quickly. “In general, I mean. I’m not letting you go. I don’t know about Africa yet, not saying yes, not saying no, but I’m not leaving you, you’re not leaving me. No one’s leaving.” There was no discussion on that point. Not ever.

“No one’s leaving,” Arizona confirmed, moving forward slowly. “But can we talk?” She sighed, closing her eyes and trying to be calm. Screaming at each other wouldn’t help anything. “I want to talk to you about it,” she clarified, stressing the word ‘talk’ but softening her voice. “Yes, I would love to go help tiny humans in Africa, but I hate the thought of leaving you for that long.” She studied her partner’s face for a long moment, searching for any hint of something that would spell imminent badness for her. “And I would never do something like this without you being okay with it, Calliope.”

Biting her lip and taking a deep breath as she edged toward her wife, Callie asked, “So you want me to be okay with you going to Africa?”

“Basically,” answered Arizona hesitantly. “But just for a few months,” she quickly added the reminder.

The brunette sighed, considering. “I’m gonna need… oh so many details, Arizona. And I will think about it,” she said pointedly. Arizona in Africa… There were just so many things that could go wrong in the thousands of miles between Washington and Africa…

“That’s all I ask,” Arizona spoke up again rapidly, trying a hopeful smile. “Any chance you still want to celebrate with me? I mean, it is pretty awesome, right?”

Callie’s smile slipped away immediately and she shook her head. “It is awesome,” she said when Arizona’s expression crumbled. “And I’m proud of you and I love you, but if we start celebrating, I’m not going to be able to think clearly.”

Arizona bit her lip, scuffing one foot across the floor. “Can I…?” She looked shy, eyes on the floor and shooting glances at Callie. “Hug? Maybe?” she requested, in Callie’s arms as soon as the Latina moved. Both released deep breaths, Arizona winding both arms around her partner’s waist and resting her forehead against her shoulder. “I love you, Calliope. And if we talk this out and decide I shouldn’t go, I’ll call Dr. Madison and tell her I’m out.”

“I’m not saying you can’t go, Arizona,” Callie sighed. “I just need to think about it.” And she really didn’t want to be the bad guy if they couldn’t work this out. Her wife living in Africa for months was a big deal, though. She deserved some time to think it through, consider their options. And she wasn’t going to apologize for loving her wife so much that the thought of being separated from her for months made her breath come short, her chest feel tight. And she needed time to process that, figure out if she could live like that for ninety-something days. “When do you need to give the committee an answer?”

“In a few days, I guess,” answered Arizona slowly.

Nodding, Callie stroked blonde hair gently. “Okay, well maybe we could meet with Dr. Madison and your crazy, neurotic wife can get some details about all of this.”

“You’re the crazy one today?”

Callie laughed suddenly. “I don’t know. You’re the one who wants to go to Africa.” They smiled at each other, Arizona’s expression nervous. “Honey, I understand you wanting to go. I really do. I just, give me some time, okay? I just, I need a little time.”

Arizona nodded, licking her lips. “Calliope, of course. Yes. Whatever you need to maybe be okay with this, I’ll get it.” She took a step back, nodding again. “Okay, you think about it, and I’m going to go make dinner.”

She was rushing into the kitchen before Callie could reassure her that she didn’t need any gestures, her phone beeping an email in her pocket.

“Check that!” Arizona called from beyond the swinging door.

Callie couldn’t help smiling as she checked her phone to see an email from Arizona (forwarded from the Carter Madison committee) with all the details of the trip attached. Moving into the kitchen, she took a seat at the table, reading the email on Arizona’s open laptop. She couldn’t say she was excited exactly, that her wife could be on another continent for three months, but looking at the tentative itinerary, it didn’t look too bad. There could definitely be worse scenarios.

They were quiet as Callie read and Arizona cooked, the Latina only looking up from the laptop when her wife put a plate beside her hand. “Thank you for cooking, sweetheart.” She covered Arizona’s hand with her own. “And in case I didn’t say it earlier, congratulations on winning. You deserve it.” Arizona’s smile was dazzling and she couldn’t help leaning up to meet her lips.

“It’s pretty awesome, right?” Arizona was happy, giddy almost, and Callie could feel herself melt. She loved her more than anything. And helping children in Africa was something Arizona would be amazing at.

Callie sighed again, smiling back at her. She was completely unable to resist this woman. “It is absolutely awesome,” she agreed, exhaling heavily. “Let’s talk after dinner. I want to eat this while it’s still warm. My awesome wife made it.” Arizona’s dimples popped and Callie’s eyes traced her features. “You’re such an amazing woman, Arizona. You know that?” Blue eyes blinked at her, surprised by the conversational turn. “You’re incredible. And I’m so incredibly lucky to be with you.”

“Hey…” Arizona started to interject, brows furrowing.

“No, let me finish,” Callie cut in, shaking her head. “You’re sweet and generous and caring and the way you love me - Arizona, no one in my life has ever loved me the way you do every day.” Arizona’s smile was shy, teeth worrying her bottom lip. “And you make it look so easy,” Callie mused, one hand curling across the blonde’s jaw, fingers lightly touching her skin. “How do you do that?”

“Are you saying it’s hard to love me?” teased Arizona lightly, an edge underlying her voice.

Callie’s expression froze, even the hint of a smile dropping off her face. “You don’t ever ask me that again,” she said clearly, deadly serious. “I love you no matter what, Arizona Robbins. Easy or hard, no matter what. And I love you for wanting to go to Africa and save children.” And with a dream like that, could she really tell her love that she didn’t want her to go? Not without feeling like a selfish asshole. But that wasn’t a reason to say yes either, just to avoid feeling bad about herself. If she was going to let Arizona go, it had to be because she believed in what she wanted to do, believed in Arizona, and believed that she would come back to her.

And laying it out like that, there was only one answer she could give. Because she did trust Arizona. And she believed in the work she could do, the people she could help. She’d been to Africa herself in the Peace Corps. They needed someone like Arizona over there. And there were other Pediatric surgeons out there, but no one else like Dr. Arizona Robbins. Her wife was the best. And those children deserved the best. If this was Arizona’s dream she couldn’t stand in the way.

“Arizona,” Callie said, letting out a deep breath and smiling again. “Loving you is the simplest thing that I’ve ever done. You’re easy to love. That’s why so many people love you. Tim, your parents, and Alex, and Teddy, Addie,” Arizona smiled sweetly, “Joe,” Callie continued listing people, “the nurses at work, your patients, random people on the street…”

They both laughed and Callie leaned forward for another soft kiss. “I love you most, though. More than any of them,” she declared before leaning back in her seat. “After dinner, we’ll talk.”

There was no talking during dinner, just the normal ambient noises of forks and knives on plates and cups on the wooden tabletop. Only when Arizona had the dishes in the dishwasher did she speak, and that only to ask, “Living room?”

Callie stood up from her seat with a nod, catching the blonde’s wrist as her wife started to pass her into the other room. She was married to an amazing, incredible, awesome woman. A woman who spent her life fighting to save the lives of children and she wasn’t satisfied with that. She wanted to do more. Callie wasn’t sure how, she was sure she couldn’t love Arizona Robbins more than she already did, but she could feel it happen, heart swelling with love for this woman.

One hand cupped her cheek as Arizona immediately let herself be drawn in. The kiss was hard and passionate, both of Arizona’s hands sliding across the sides of her neck, fingers in the back of her hair.

“Love you,” Arizona gasped into the next kiss, feeling hands slip down her sides to grip her butt, Callie walking them blindly backwards in the general direction of the couch. “You’re really not mad?” she asked again, leaning back to check. “That I want to go to Africa?”

Callie’s eyes narrowed in consideration, looking straight at her. “Do you want to go to Africa for any other reason than to save children?”

Blue eyes blinked and Arizona shook her head. “No, of course not. What other reason…?” Realization struck and a hand struck the outside of Callie’s thigh in a sharp swat at the same time. “Calliope Torres, if I go, you cannot think for one single second that I wouldn’t miss you with all of my heart. The last thing I ever want to do is leave you, baby.” She sighed, leaning her forehead against Callie’s. “But it’s - this is a dream I’ve had… for a long time.”

“I understand,” Callie said gently, leaning in for another kiss. “We will talk about it later. Kiss me again,” she requested. 

That was never something Arizona was going to deny and she pushed forward, breaking away to giggle when Callie fell backwards onto the couch and dragged Arizona with her. They took a moment to adjust to the new position and then Arizona’s lips were back on hers.

Of course, it only took a few minutes before the front door opened, Alex groaning. “Come on! I thought we talked about this, Robbins! We each have our own rooms for a reason!” he protested. “That was what we said!” He swatted the blonde’s shoe, spinning the wheel. “The couch is not for making out! That was the rule!”

“Karev, Arizona just won the Carter Madison,” Callie said before hauling her wife back to her lips. Her ambivalent feelings about that stung and she needed to keep kissing Arizona. That was simple, at least.

“Well, I resected a lung by myself today, so remember this next time I’ve got a girl over here,” he bargained, grinning when Arizona sat up with a grumble of protest. “I heard you’re a big shot award winner now, boss. Congratulations.”

“And you won’t let me make out with my wife to reward myself? I don’t think you’re really happy for me,” Arizona grumped, bumping her fist against his and leaning back against Callie’s side as the Latina sat up beside her. 

Callie wrapped an arm over her shoulder and turned her head to kiss the side of her face. “And she’s going to Africa,” she added, surprising all three of them with the declaration. If Arizona felt that she needed to do this, she wasn’t going to stand in the way. She was just going to miss the hell out of her wife. The blonde stiffened in her arms, turning to look up at her. “If it’s something you need to do, I’m behind you,” she promised in a whisper. Wide blue eyes blinked at her in disbelief. “If you don’t come home to me I will come after you,” she added, eyebrow arching at her seriously.

Arizona swallowed hard, touched. Calliope Torres was amazing. Everything about her. “Karev, you need to go upstairs,” she ordered hoarsely.

“Why can’t you go upstairs?” he complained immediately, rooting through his bag for his ringing phone.

“I said go upstairs, Alex. Or leave, whatever,” she repeated herself, sitting up out of Callie’s arms and turning around to straddle her on the couch. “Now. I need to talk to her.”

Grumbling, he took his bag and stomped upstairs. Callie leaned her head back against the back of the couch to meet her eyes. “Arizona…”

“Are you kidding? I mean, seriously? I can go?” Arizona asked breathlessly. “And you won’t divorce me while I’m gone or anything?”

Brown eyes rolled. “Of course I’m not divorcing you,” Callie sighed. “In fact, I don’t want you to ever say that word again. I don’t like you saying that word.” Arizona nodded in a heartbeat, both hands resting on Callie’s shoulders. “Arizona, you can save a lot of lives going to Africa. And it’s a dream of yours. So I absolutely want you to go if that’s what you want to do.”

“You understand that I love you more than life itself and I will tell you that every single day for the rest of our lives,” Arizona started, stopping when Callie put a finger over her mouth, a smile on the Latina’s lips.

“Arizona, it’s okay,” she said. “I love you. I love everything about you. And that includes loving you for going to Africa to save children.” Arizona’s eyes searched her face for any glimmer of doubt or hesitation. “That doesn’t mean that we’re not going to get the details on everything though. I want to know where you are every single day you’re gone, and we need a way to keep in touch, and you need to be safe…”

“Calliope, you know I would never do anything that might take me away from you,” Arizona said earnestly. “And if you don’t want me to go, I won’t go.”

Callie smiled, breathing deeply as she shook her head. She didn’t want to be separated from her partner, but her partner wanted to go to Africa and save the lives of children. And Arizona would save a lot of lives. She couldn’t stop her from doing what she loved to save children. “You should go,” Callie said. “Go to Africa and do what you do best, babe.”

Arizona cocked her head, still hesitant. “Seriously?”

Laughing, Callie nodded, reaching up with one hand to hook the back of Arizona’s neck and draw her down into a kiss. “Seriously,” she murmured. “You’re amazing and you deserve that grant and you’re going to help so many people in Africa, Arizona. It’s going to be awesome.” She leaned up for another kiss, fingers stroking through blonde hair. “I’m going to miss you like crazy, though,” she confessed softly. “And I wasn’t kidding about knowing every single detail about everything.”

“Calliope, whatever you need to be comfortable with this, I’ll do it or make sure you have it,” Arizona insisted immediately. Both hands rubbed gently at the tops of Callie’s shoulders as she shuffled forward on her knees, relieved to feel her wife’s strong hands rub lightly over her legs. “I love you, you know?”

“I do know that,” Callie said, amused. “And I love you and I trust you and I want you to do awesome things for Africa.”

Touched, Arizona leaned in to press her forehead against Callie’s. This woman was absolutely unbelievable. Calliope Torres was amazing. And she was her wife. It was too good to be true, almost. “Seriously, I’m completely in love with you, Calliope.”

“So I don’t have to worry about you and all those topless chicks in Africa?” Callie teased, smirking. “I’ve seen those National Geographic specials, babe.”

Arizona jerked back to gape at her, a gorgeous smile on Callie’s lips to greet her own stupefied expression. “I would never…”

“Honey, stop. I know you wouldn’t. I was just messing with you,” Callie cut in, hands sliding around Arizona’s backside. “You better miss me too.”

“Oh my God, Calliope! I’m not even going to be able to stop thinking about you for a second!”

Callie took a choked breath, nodding. She wanted Arizona to do her dream, she really did, but she needed reassurance that this was something they could do. She could send her other half to the other side of the world and it would be okay. “Are we going to be able to talk while you’re gone? Or-or could we write, or…?”

Arizona could almost feel her heart break in sympathy, feel the agony of being separated from Callie even while she was sitting on her. “I don’t care what it takes. I will find a way to talk to you. I can’t go three months without hearing your voice.” Without thinking twice, she leaned in for a kiss, sucking on her lover’s bottom lip. 

Callie moaned, grip tightening on her wife’s ass as she stretched up into the kiss. She didn’t want to ever stop doing this. Not until Arizona had to leave her and get on a plane. Dragging her lip from between Arizona’s teeth, she tilted her head to adjust the angle and went back in, one hand remaining on her butt as the other wound into her hair and hung on tight while tongues dueled slowly. Both of them were content to drag this out, wanting to make everything last longer.


	9. Chapter 9

Cursing under her breath as she scrubbed out of surgery, Callie was glad to see Arizona enter the scrub room, glad that being called into emergency surgery wasn’t going to keep her from seeing her wife tonight. Ever since Arizona had finalized her travel plans to Africa (leaving in a week), they’d been spending every waking minute they could together. Tonight they were supposed to have been out of the hospital three hours ago, but she’d been called in on a trauma case instead.

“You waited on me?” she asked, surprised but grateful.

The blonde just smiled, shrugging. “Tim’s working tonight and Teddy’s worked thirty hours so she’s sleeping. It would have just been primetime TV at home by myself.” Her smile went forced. “And this way I got the rest of my paperwork finished and called Addie about covering for me with Karev.” Her leaving was still something she mentally debated fifty times a day. She wanted to do it, wanted to go to Africa and save the lives of children, but the thought of leaving Callie felt like her lungs were just gone, making it hard to breathe.

Eyeing her, Callie sighed. “Did we have something different planned than TV at home by ourselves?” she asked, finishing her scrubbing and drying her hands. “Because I kind of wanted to watch that one show…”

“It’s recording for you,” Arizona said, smirking as she slid her fingers through Callie’s and led them out of the scrub room. “I know you need to watch your show, babe.”

“Not more than I need to do whatever you want to do tonight,” Callie objected. She would do pretty much anything as long as she was spending the time with Arizona.

The blonde just gave her a dimpled smile, bumping her elbow as they walked. “We can watch your show, I just might be trying to take your clothes off at the same time. Fair warning.” Their eyes met and Arizona winked playfully. “I fully intend to try and distract you from whoever that guy is, David whatever, the one you think is hot…”

“He is hot, babe, but he’s got nothing on you!” promised Callie with a laugh. “And I don’t think you’ll have to try too hard to get my attention.” If anything, the knowledge that in just over a week she’d be without her wife for three months made focusing on anything else difficult when she just wanted to drink up every second she could get with her partner.

Dinner was a pizza they’d picked up on the way home, the TV providing background noise while they stretched out on the couch together. Presumably they were watching, but Callie was fully engaged in tracing patterns across the top of the blonde’s back where her wife was laying fully pressed against the length of her body. And she was perfectly content to simply lay there with Arizona’s head on her shoulder.

“What are you thinking about?” The blonde’s whisper drew her eyes down, her arm drawing her imperceptibly closer.

“I’m thinking about this time next week when I’ll be sitting here alone and you’ll be in Africa saving lives,” she answered, her own voice low.

Arizona went stiff beside her. “I don’t want to leave you.” Her voice was choked up now, an arm sliding across the Latina’s waist to keep them in close contact.

“I know that,” Callie soothed her, turned her head to kiss her wife’s forehead. “But you do want to go. And you’re going to do amazing things. They really need the help over there too.” Arizona made an interested noise but didn’t speak, burying her face in Callie’s shoulder. “I told you I was in the Peace Corp after college. I spent most of my time in Botswana. I remember what it was like over there. And they need you.”

“Is that why you said I could go?” the blonde asked curiously, speaking softly. She loved any kind of contact with her wife, loved snuggling into her and feeling the soft, comfy warmth that meant she was home and safe and loved. And in eight days she was going to have to sleep alone, without even the possibility of this. At least when she had to bunk down in an on-call room there was a chance Callie would come and find her, curl into the narrow bed with her.

Callie breathed deeply, drawing in the scent of Arizona’s shampoo. “One of the reasons. Another is that I would never stand in the way of something you really feel strongly about, Arizona. You’re my wife, my job is to support you. So when you win a kick ass grant to raise the standard of medical care for an entire country, there’s not really anything for me to say no to, is there?” She shifted down slightly and turned her back on the TV so they were face to face. “I’m proud of you and I love you and I know that this is something you need to do. The only thing I ask is that you keep in touch as much as we can, I need to know you’re safe, and you come home to me.”

“That’s two things,” Arizona observed, dimples popping as she smiled. Wiggling forward, she let out a slow breath as their chests brushed, Callie letting her squirm a leg between her knees.

“Fine, I ask two things of you,” the brunette corrected herself as she lifted one hand to comb through blonde hair. “Be all kinds of careful, email me all the time and call when you can, and come home.”

“That’s three things. Four if you count email and calling separately,” said Arizona with a soft laugh, jumping when the hand on her face jumped down to swat her ass in a split second. “Hey!”

Callie’s answer to her protest was a kiss that started hard before becoming soft and slow, her tongue slipping out to tease her wife’s lips. “I’ll make you a list,” she whispered, nipping her lower lip firmly. “And you will do all of them.”

“Anything you want,” Arizona promised, panting for the breath Callie had stolen straight from her lungs. “Calliope…”

“I know,” she said, a bit breathless herself but still taking another kiss, fingers back in blonde hair. She made a mess of it tugging out the band holding it into a ponytail but she didn’t care, gripping and releasing it in bunches. “I’m serious,” she pulled back to say against her mouth, Arizona leaning forward this time to connect them again. “You, if anything happened to you…” Half of her was going to be in another freaking country and how the hell had this ever sounded like an okay idea, she demanded of herself, mind going into overdrive.

“Shh,” the blonde hushed her gently. “It’s okay. I’m right here,” whispered Arizona soothingly. “Nothing’s going to happen to me, Calliope. I’m going to be worried about you too, you know? You can’t let the guys move out while I’m gone, okay? I need them to watch your ass for me.”

It earned her a strangled laugh, Callie cocking an eyebrow at her. “You’re going to invite the guys to watch my ass?” she questioned, amused in spite of herself. “Really?”

Blue eyes blinked and a pout appeared on perfect lips. “I would break them in half if they went near your anything, Calliope, but I do trust them to keep other people away from my wife, yes.”

Alex chose that moment to jog inside, shaking rain off of his head and stomping his feet on the mat. Spotting the TV as he poked his head in, he spoke up, “Hey, did you already watch it?”

Laughing, Callie stole another kiss. “No, we haven’t seen a thing,” she said honestly. “Want me to start it over again? You get dried off and I’ll rewind it…” Arizona let her turn over to see the television and snuggled an arm across her waist and slid her leg back between the Latina’s knees. “Can you even see from back there?” Callie checked, leaning her head back to catch a glimpse of her.

“Yes,” Arizona answered, wiggling up so she could actually see. “I like being the big spoon,” she confessed in a whisper, nuzzling into the side of a tanned neck. Callie reached back silently to rub a hand over her hip and the side of her thigh. She liked being wrapped up in Arizona’s arms, wanted to stay there as long as she could.

Alex, for once, made no comment about their position on the couch, just flopped down onto the loveseat in jeans and a t-shirt, pouring M&M’s straight from the bag into his mouth. “Here,” he tossed a bag of peanut ones across to Arizona (they were her favorites), “I had to stop at the gas station, got you some.”

“Thanks, Karev,” she said gratefully, tearing it open, dropping a few into her mouth and chewing happily. “Help yourself to pizza,” she told him, waving the bag toward the flat box on the coffee table. She held a candy to Callie’s mouth, smiling when warm lips dragged across her fingertips as she sucked the chocolate in. “Tease,” she whispered into her ear as the TV show started again on the screen. Callie just pecked a kiss to her palm.

They left Alex dozing on the couch, his legs hanging over the end of the short loveseat and his head flopped back over the other end. Arizona restrained a giggle behind her hand, letting herself be towed along by the other hand. “At least he’s not snoring,” she commented.

Callie spun her when the reached the stairs, the Latina following her up with both hands on her wife’s hips. “Alex can snore, it won’t bother us,” she declared, voice low and breathy. “He’s staying down here and I’m taking you upstairs.”

The need in her tone sent a quiver down Arizona’s back and into her knees, making her stumble. “Shut up,” she ordered before she could see Callie’s smirk, able to feel it without turning her head.

“I like that I can still make you a little jumpy,” Callie teased, goosing her butt for emphasis and making Arizona jump again.

“I have never been jumpy, Calliope,” Arizona stubbornly declared. 

Taking that as a challenge, Callie spun her into the wall, smirking smugly at the tremor that slid from head to toe down the blonde’s body. “Oh, is that so?” challenged the brunette, hands sliding down her partner’s sides. Catching the backs of her thighs, Callie lifted her ably, holding her steady while Arizona instinctively wrapped her legs around her. “I think I can make you jump.”

“Just tell me how high,” said Arizona with a laugh. She was all for teasing, really, and Callie could give as good as she got, but right now, only days away from her departure, she would do anything Callie asked of her. “We’re almost to the bedroom…” she pointed out coaxingly, nodding her head toward their door.

Callie just shook her head, not moving them from the wall. “And what if I wanted you here, right now?” Arizona’s answer came in the jerk of her hips against Callie’s torso. “Good girl,” the Latina approved, Arizona’s hands on her shoulders as her own went to the blonde’s waist to open her pants.

“Calliope…” Arizona’s whisper was shushed by Callie only a heartbeat before her wife was pressing inside her, panties pushed to the side in her haste. “Calliope, please…”

The strong Ortho hand slowed, stilled, and blue eyes fought their way open to meet dark brown. “Please what? How can I make you happy, Arizona?”

The blonde whimpered and whined, rocking against the still fingers inside her. “Fuck me,” she answered, the only answer she could give. They’d done their share of making love in the aftermath of their decision that she was going to Africa, but she wanted this too. She wanted memories of her wife driving her into the wall. Any memory she could make with Callie, she wanted it. And right now, she wanted it bad. Alex could wake up at any minute, could come up the stairs and see them, but she wouldn’t stop this for anything.

Callie hissed when Arizona’s nails dug into her shoulders but she just moved deeper, thrust harder. Arizona’s kiss on her neck was surprisingly soft, the blonde burying her face there and panting for breath as she got higher and higher, closer to her peak. “I love you so much,” she gasped into her ear, kissing again on her neck.

The next thrust landed and stayed, Callie’s entire body pressing her into the wall. “Look at me,” the brunette requested breathlessly, feeling Arizona tighten around her, legs squeezing her hips as her core held her fingers tightly. “Arizona, I need to…”

Words were cut off by a hard kiss, one of Arizona’s hands on her jaw, sliding back into her hair and gripping as she pulled out of the kiss sloppily, locking blue eyes on brown before quite deliberately rocking herself back and up to plunge herself back down onto Callie’s hand, her hips, a moment later.

Her release was explosive but Arizona forced herself not to close her eyes, wanting Callie to see everything she made her feel. The moment stretched until it had to break, her body unable to keep itself up any further. Callie would never let her fall though, and the Ortho surgeon held her tight as she slumped into her support.

“I’ve got you,” Callie promised softly, stroking her hair. “I love you, Arizona. Thank you for letting me…”

“Fuck me in our hallway?” finished Arizona with a smug smile. “With our bed literally feet away? I think I’m the one who should be saying thank you, Calliope.” One hand found Callie’s as she slid down the wall to her feet. She wasn’t sure when Callie had pulled out, but she found that she missed her already. How much worse would that longing be in a week? Two weeks? A month? Two months? Swallowing hard, she forced herself to hold onto the bliss Callie had given her. “Come on,” she said, her voice hoarse suddenly. “We’re going to bed. I could say thanks, but I can do better than that.”

The next seven days were a blur of Arizona’s Type A organization making sure that nothing was left unfinished at work or unpacked at home, the blonde not resting at night until Callie dragged her to bed. And the night before her flight she didn’t sleep at all, though not because she was still packing. All her bags were packed, waiting by the front door. Callie still dragged her to bed though, needing one more night of closeness that would have to tide them over until she returned.

And of course, the morning came too soon. Callie went quiet at the first light through their window, facing away from the brightening that was signaling her other half’s imminent departure. Arizona kissed her shoulder before sliding out of bed to get dressed, having a schedule of when they needed to be leaving for her to make all of her flights for the day, but left her to gather herself in silence. And it was going to take every bit of her trained stoicism to get through this day without collapsing into a weeping mess.

But she really did want Arizona to get her dream, didn’t want to make her feel badly about doing something so amazing, so she needed not to be sobbing out of control. At least, not until after Arizona’s flight took off. And Tim was driving them to the airport, would be there to keep her from losing it.

The ride was quiet, both of the women curling into the backseat while Tim chauffeured them. The Marine took his sister’s bag when they arrived, the couple holding hands while Arizona got her ticket and led them through the airport to the security checkpoint where they would have to say goodbye.

Knowing that saying goodbye to Callie wouldn’t be something simple, Arizona gently disengaged their hands and turned to her brother. He hugged her tight, wrapping both arms around her shoulders. “You be careful, you got it?” he ordered gruffly, speaking straight into her ear.

“Got it. You take care of my girl for me, yeah?”

“Yeah,” he promised. “She’ll be good as new.”

She smiled. “I mean, don’t let her just sit around the house and mope, okay? Take her out, make her have some fun. But not too much fun,” she added when he laughed.

“I understand. I’ll take care of her,” Tim said seriously. Reaching into the back pocket of his jeans, he pulled out a faded blue Patriots cap and offered it to her, watching her smile at the sight of it.

“You still have this?” She’d given him the cap before his first tour and he’d kept it through each subsequent one.

Tim grinned his matching grin at her and shook it out where the limp hat was wrinkled from his pocket. “Of course I still have it. It’s good luck, isn’t it?” He put it on her head and she pulled her ponytail through the opening at the back. “Lose it and I’ll kick your butt, alright?”

Arizona’s smile was genuine. She loved her brother more than almost anyone in the world. “Three months, right here, I’ll be happy to give it back to you,” she promised. “Thank you.” She adjusted it on her head, grinning out from under the brim. He gave her a nod and a final hug before taking a step back, giving Callie space.

Their eyes met and the airport, all the other people, they all dropped away. It was just the two of them facing each other.

“Calliope…” No one said her name like that and Callie closed the space between them in a heartbeat, closing her arms behind Arizona’s back and holding her tight against herself. “I love you.”

“I love you,” Callie echoed, her voice hoarse. “Tell me again that we can do this…”

“We can do this,” confirmed Arizona immediately. “I love you more than anything and we can do this. Okay?” If Callie changed her mind right now, she would take her bag and get back in the car. She wanted to do this, wanted to make a difference for a country, but Callie was her priority, always.

A heaving sigh tickled her ear. “Okay… We can do this,” Callie agreed softly. She held her tighter, kissing the skin above the blonde’s t-shirt. “We’ll do this and you’ll come home.”

“Three months. I’ll be right here,” she promised.

Nodding, Callie pulled her head back to meet her eyes. “I’ll be waiting.” She leaned in for a soft kiss, Arizona meeting her halfway. It was slow, almost chaste contact, Callie’s fingers slipping across the back of her wife’s neck and the wisps of hair free from her ponytail. Arizona smiled against her lips when she felt her hair get pulled lightly, the grip tugging her head back so Callie could kiss a line down her throat a second later.

“Calliope…” The Latina lifted her head to kiss her mouth again, sucking on her lip this time and making her moan. Her own fingers wound into loose black hair, holding her head in close. Only breathlessness broke the kiss, the two leaning into each other with their eyes closed. Arizona heard her phone chime and she sighed, squeezing back tears.

“You’ve got to go,” guessed Callie softly, fighting her own emotion. “Okay. We can do this. I love you.”

“Calliope Torres, I love you more than anything,” Arizona echoed. “I’ll call you when we land on the east coast, okay?”

Callie tugged firmly on her belt. “You better.” She released her with a final quick kiss. “Have a safe flight.” She was short, brusque because she had to be. If she said everything she wanted to say, she’d break down into tears. And that wouldn’t help either one of them. So she put her doctor training to work and kept her face under control. “Call me the second you land,” she emphasized, forcing herself to take a step backward into Tim’s hand on her shoulder.

“I will,” Arizona promised earnestly. “As soon as they tell me I can turn my phone on, I’m calling you. It’ll be about six hours, so keep your phone on you.” Brown eyes just rolled in her direction and Tim couldn’t hide his smile. “I love you. Both of you.”

Outside the airport, thunder made itself audible. Of course it would be raining today.


	10. Chapter 10

Waiting impatiently for the image to connect, Callie tapped her foot anxiously on the floor as she chewed her thumbnail and stared at the computer screen. “Come on, baby,” she murmured to herself, realizing dimly that she was talking to herself but not caring. It had been a month since Arizona had left for Africa and this was their first opportunity to try and video chat. And if she didn’t see her wife’s face, she was going to cry. No matter how un-badass it was.

She heard her voice before she saw her, the screen still dark as Arizona muttered to herself. “Arizona?! Babe, I want to see you!”

As Arizona leaned back, Callie realized that the darkness was because her wife was leaning over the computer to mess with the camera. “You’re good, just sit down so I can look at you,” Callie requested, not caring for a second how desperate she sounded.

Neither one spoke for a long minute, each drinking in the sight of the other after such an extended absence. Arizona’s face was pink with sunburn, the tip of her nose peeling. Her hair had gone a shade lighter as well, speaking to her time in the sun. She was gorgeous. They managed to talk every few days, once a week at least, but the time difference and the fact that homosexuality was illegal there made it hard for them to say everything they wanted to say. This was the first time they’d attempted to actually see each other.

“Oh my God,” Callie gasped, licking her lips unconsciously at the sight of her wife. “Arizona…”

Words had failed her but Arizona just nodded knowingly. “I know, Calliope.” Glancing around to make sure she was alone, Arizona leaned into the camera to whisper, “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my entire life. And I love you more than anything.”

“I can’t believe we have two more months of this,” Callie groaned.

“I know, but the time really is going quickly.”

Callie just leaned her head into one hand with a sigh. “Maybe for you.”

“Calliope…”

“No, I know.” This wasn’t the first time they’d exchanged this series of reassurances. It varied which one started it every time. “Tell me about the awesome medicine again,” she requested. 

And it really was incredible work. There wasn’t a day that went by that she didn’t save a life. And teaching the surgeons of Malawi, she got to be sure that the standard of care would remain lifted after she was home. But now, looking at Callie’s face outside of a picture for the first time in weeks, all she wanted was to be home.

Arizona didn’t even realize she was crying until Callie hushed her gently. “I know, I just, God, I miss you, Calliope,” she whimpered, reaching forward to touch her face on the screen and drawing back when she found no comfort in the cool, smooth laptop display. “I wish you could hold me.”

“I know, sweetheart, me too,” Callie whispered back. “You just have to focus on the medicine. We’ll get through this and you’ll be home with me.”

Arizona hiccupped back another sob, endeavoring to wipe her eyes. “I’m just, I’m crying all the time and they’re so nice here and they ask me what’s wrong and I tell them that I miss my wife.” Callie sucked in a surprised breath. Talk like that could get Arizona in trouble around the wrong person. “And they ask me every time if I want to go home and I have to say no, but every time I’m expecting to open my mouth and say yes.” Her blue eyes squeezed closed, more tears leaking from the corners and sliding fast and hot down her cheeks. She hadn’t been able to stop herself from crying, but this was something else entirely. This was grief for her separation. Part of her was just gone. Her other half on the other side of the world.

Callie ached to see her cry, unable to stop herself from reacting the same way. “Arizona…” One pale hand dragged over the computer screen as if to touch her face and Callie had to stifle a groan. She would do anything to be able to take her wife into her arms right now. “Arizona, please,” she pleaded. “I love you.” She needed to hear it back and Arizona obliged her, choking it out. “Please don’t cry. I can’t take it. Think about the kids, Arizona.”

Struggling to regain the control she needed to keep breathing, Arizona leaned her head back on her neck and took deep, shuddering breaths. Once it was steady, in and out through the hole in her chest left by Callie’s absence, she looked back at the screen. “Next time I have the idea to go to another continent, you tell me no,” she requested hoarsely. “Because I hate this.”

Callie smiled in spite of herself, chewing on her lip. “Okay,” she promised softly. It was an easy promise to make. She hated this too.

“Tell me about home,” Arizona requested. They talked on the satellite phone every few days, but she craved news. “Tim and Teddy?” Even as she asked, Callie looked sideways at the front door as it opened and she could hear her brother’s voice.

Then his head was over the back of the couch beside Callie’s and he was grinning at her. “Arizona, hey! How’s it going?”

“Going good,” she answered him hoarsely. “You alright?”

“Awesome,” Tim said with a smirk, lightly teasing her. “We miss you. Callie doesn’t cook the good stuff since you left.” Arizona laughed and the Latina bit her lip again. “You staying safe?” he asked, tone going serious.

Arizona nodded, blonde hair falling in her face. “Of course,” she promised. “You watching out for my wife?”

He shrugged with a grin and nudged Callie with an elbow. “There’s some guy sniffing around, but I’m keeping an eye on it. He’s only gotten to first base so far.”

Arizona clenched her jaw and Callie pushed her brother-in-law’s head sideways. “He’s joking,” she said shortly, rolling her eyes. She’d had a few guys approach her at Joe’s, but she was always quick to shut them down. She wanted nothing from anyone but Arizona. And Tim, who’d promised to watch out for her while Arizona was gone, found reasons to come by the bar whenever Callie was there. Mostly she just stayed at home, though. Arizona was closer at the house than she was anywhere else.

“He better be,” the blonde growled. She’d never been a jealous or possessive person before Callie, but Calliope was hers. The feeling was only amplified by the distance between them. She trusted her wife above anyone, though. And Callie would never hurt her like that. “But I can’t blame them for looking,” she acknowledged, smiling to get a smile in return. She lived for that smile, those lips, those eyes, that face, that hair, that woman.

“Look who’s talking,” said Callie with a chuckle. “Africa’s never seen such a beautiful woman as you.” Tim was audibly gagging somewhere behind Callie, out of view of the camera. Callie glanced over her shoulder with another laugh. “Maybe I should have sent Tim with you, make sure those doctors who don’t know you’re married keep their eyes in their heads.”

“Do I need to go bust some heads?” Tim asked willingly, rounding the couch to flop down beside Callie and throwing an arm around her shoulders.

“No, everyone’s eyes are in their heads,” Arizona said with an extended eye roll. “They all know I’m married. And the doctors kind of think I’m mean, actually. I’m staying in teacher mode as much as I can so I don’t cry all the time.” Callie grimaced and Tim guided her head to his shoulder, the Latina not resisting his comfort. It was clear how close they’d gotten, how comfortable they were with each other. If it were any two other people she’d be nervous. “Baby, it’s okay. I’m sorry. I don’t want to upset you. I just - I miss you. You know I miss you.”

“I miss you too,” Callie sighed.

Arizona glanced at the clock, she had to start rounds soon, she needed to go. “Tim, can you take her out? Get her out of the house.”

“Can do,” he confirmed with a nod, talking over Callie’s objection. “Karev!” he called loudly. “We’re taking Callie out!” He stood up, giving his sister a nod through the computer. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” she echoed, knowing that he was giving her some privacy with Callie and grateful for that. “And I love you,” she said, eyes focusing on Callie. “I love you more than anything.”

“I know that,” Callie whispered. “I love you, Arizona.”

She knew she needed to leave, needed to hide the evidence of her tears before she went to work, but she couldn’t stand to say goodbye again. Instead, she lifted her left hand to kiss her rings, blinking back tears when Callie mirrored her movement. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Yeah,” echoed Callie hoarsely. Her fingers, her steady surgeon fingers, trembled as she closed the connection, shutting her laptop with a quiet click. Taking a moment, she leaned over her knees and drew in a shaky breath. The ache in her chest wouldn’t go away, not until she had Arizona in her arms.

Tim’s hand was steady on her back a few minutes later. “You alright?” he asked considerately. Callie sat up straight and blinked at him. “Come on,” he coaxed, “let’s get some drinks. I’m buying.”

Callie’s phone beeped as they stood up, an email from Arizona on her screen. She loved this woman more than anything. It was simple, another ‘I love you’ but it was perfect, exactly what she needed. She sent a reply, email their easiest way of communication but lacking the personal connection they got from calling.

“Let’s get a drink,” she said, taking his hand and squeezing hard.

Joe’s was already crowded when they walked in, Alex pushing forward to the bar while Tim and Callie found a table. Familiar with everyone’s favorites, Alex was quickly back with beers for himself and Tim and a scotch for Callie. “Joe says it’s on the house,” he said, his tablemates leaning forward to salute the bar with their drinks. Joe had a big old soft spot for Arizona so he would treat them to the first round every night they came in.

Sipping quietly, it didn’t take long before Alex was flirting nonverbally across the bar with some nurse. Callie just rolled her eyes and nodded him out of the booth. “Just go,” she said, smiling shallowly. It was the most she could muster tonight. “You’ve covered your bases, I’m out of the house. Go get yours.”

He grinned, draining half of his beer. “You rock, Torres! Later!”

Tim kept an arm across the back of the booth behind her, catching Teddy’s eye and nodding. “You go on too,” Callie directed him with a laugh. He looked hesitant and she shoved his shoulder, pushing him toward the edge of the booth. “I’ll be fine, Tim. You don’t have to babysit me. Go dance with her. Somebody should be getting some,” she reasoned, smirking.

“Well, when you put it like that…”

“Get out of here,” she ordered, shaking her head at him and laughing.

It didn’t take ten seconds after he was out of the booth for Mark Sloan to slip into the vacated seat. “Torres, it’s funny to see you here alone.” Over the Plastic surgeon’s shoulder Callie could see Tim’s protective glance and she waved him off. Sloan was a bit of a slut, but he was harmless if you had any self-control.

“Well, not exactly alone,” she said. “My brother-in-law is right over there.” And Alex was around, even if he was a bit distracted with his newest target. She took another sip of her scotch. “Was there something you wanted, Dr. Sloan?”

He was instantly smirking. “If you’re offering…”

Brown eyes rolled and she scoffed. “I’m married. You know that I’m married. Not that that stops you, from what I hear.” He was notorious around the hospital for sleeping with any woman who moved - doctor, nurse, patient, etc. “You’ve slept with my sister, in case you forgot.”

“You don’t want to help me get the set?”

“You’re gross,” she informed him flatly. “And this was a bad idea.” She drained her drink and shooed him toward the edge of the seat. “I’m going home.”

He didn’t move and Tim looked toward her again, Callie again waving him off. “Come on, I was kidding,” Mark tried. “You look lonely, Torres. Dance with me.”

“I don’t want to dance with you, Mark,” she said wearily. She wanted to drink about four more scotches and go home and wallow in misery, but that was too pathetic to actually say out loud. “Let me out, please.”

“One dance,” he coaxed. “I won’t do anything unwelcome. It’s just fun, Torres.” She hesitated and he nudged her, leaning over to smile. “Just because Robbins isn’t here doesn’t mean you can’t have fun.”

Sighing, Callie shook her head slowly. “Mark…”

“You look like you could use a friend, Torres. That’s all,” he said. “And your brother-in-law is built like a truck and watching you like a hawk. You think I’d invite getting my face busted by that guy?”

Callie sighed, shaking her head. “Fine. One dance.”

It took her a second to loosen up, not used to dancing with someone who wasn’t Arizona, much less a man. It had been a long time. His hands on her hips made her stiffen and he spun her instead. He was a good dancer, but she missed being able to press her wife’s form against her, missed dancing close and stealing kisses. She missed a lot of things. But this was fun. And much less pathetic than lonely moping at home.

Mark kept polite space after the first initial contact, Callie catching Tim’s eyes on them every few turns. He really was an amazing brother. Arizona would be happy to know that he was taking his in-law status so seriously. Callie bowed out when the next song ended, grateful for the distraction but knowing exactly how people talked around Seattle Grace. Spending the night dancing and drinking with Mark Sloan wouldn’t do her any favors.

Tim was there as soon as Mark walked away with a wave, the elder Robbins putting a hand through his hair. “You okay?”

“Yes, Tim,” she said dryly, amused. “Did you have fun with Teddy?”

“Yeah. How about you?”

“It was alright,” she told him, taking his other hand and steering them to sway. He took the lead, smiling. “Better now.”

Tim laughed and dipped her. “Yeah?”

“Nobody beats the Robbins,” Callie said with a grin and kiss to the cheek.

“Awesome,” replied Tim, bobbing his eyebrows comically at her. Callie’s smile was tinged with sadness suddenly, her arms looping around his neck. “Hey, I know it’s not the same, but I miss her too. And Teddy and Alex. We all miss her too, Cal.”

“I know you do,” she whispered. His arm gently guided her head to his chest. “Thank you, Tim.”


	11. Interlude - Bless the Rains Down in Africa

The touch of a hand on the top of her shoulder brought Arizona fully awake, the surgeon running a hand over her face as she lifted her head from the side of her patient’s bed. A chipped ceramic mug of strong tea greeted her eyes and she took it gratefully. “Hey,” she said, grimacing at the hoarseness of her voice, the dry scratch in her throat.

“Did you stay here all day again, Dr. Robbins?” asked the younger doctor who’d woken her up. “When do you sleep?” he questioned, chuckling as she stood up and stretched.

“I don’t think I do anymore,” she answered, suppressing a grimace at the taste of the tea. She’d give anything for strong black coffee right now, just a hint of cream and sugar, the way she liked it. “Too busy trying to get you guys whipped into shape,” teased the senior surgeon, taking the chart he offered her.

He just shook his head, scratching idly at the still growing in beard he’d begun sporting since their arrival. “How’d he sleep?”

“Good.” Arizona was distracted, reading and draining the last of her tea in one long swallow. Dragging it out was never good. “Breath sounds stayed clear and equal for the last four hours. No complications.” The younger man at her side straightened up but she didn’t say more, still reading. He’d done good work, but she wasn’t here to feed his ego. She was here to teach and he was here to learn. And then she was going home to her wife and their life in Washington. She had all the personal relationships she could ever need at home. This was professional Dr. Robbins in the extreme. She’d decided that she was practically channeling Bailey, here! And this guy was good, she couldn’t deny that, but he was no Alex Karev.

When he didn’t get the pat on the head he was looking for, Dr. Cliff (his first name, but how he chose to be addressed) cleared his throat and shuffled his feet. “Dr. Robbins, I think the patient with Hirschsprung’s that you were going to show us the Modified Dumahel procedure for is coming in today.”

She sighed, nodding. “Thank you. Have Dr. Perreault do the preliminary work up when he gets here,” she ordered. “And you can sit with Abi here until his parents get here.” He couldn’t suppress his expression fast enough and she stepped closer to him. “Dr. Cliff, I think you have some work to do on controlling your face,” Arizona informed him coolly, crossing her arms. “Do you have something you feel is more important that you’d rather be doing?”

“No, ma’am, it’s just…” he grimaced again. “Couldn’t I round with you or something? He’s just going to be sleeping…” His eyes moved to the unconscious eight year old and then back to her.

“You might think it’s boring,” Arizona cut him off, “but this is patient care. This kid is sick, and his parents are busy. He’s here all alone and he just wants to go outside and play. He’s just as tired of being in this place as you are about being stuck in here with him. Sit with him when he wakes up,” she stated her direction again. “Play cards with him. Make him laugh. We don’t have to like it, but we’re all in here together.” One brow arched at him. “You got it?” He nodded, suddenly meek, and she let out a deep breath, realizing that she was being a little harsh, letting her own feelings color her words. She was here, doing work she was born to do, but she was leaving. Dr. Cliff and his fellow surgeons were staying here for years. “Sorry,” she apologized. “It’s been a long day…” Long day, long week, long month and a half… But it was the halfway point. It was all downhill from here - the countdown until she was back home with Calliope.

Cliff just nodded, dirty blond hair flopping in his face. “Don’t bite my head off, but maybe you should take a break until the HD patient is ready for surgery,” he suggested, smiling crookedly down at her. “I’ve got this. Go take a nap or a shower or something. Call your girl if it means you’ll stop snapping.”

Slapping the chart to his chest, Arizona rolled her eyes. The kid was a smartass. That did remind her of Alex. “I’ll just be across the street, Dr. Cliff,” she reminded him, leaving the room and departing the clinic entirely. 

The first blast of air outside was hot and it took her a second to adjust, same as it had every day since her arrival. The dry heat of Africa felt like a completely different planet from cool, rainy Seattle. Crossing the street to her apartment, the stairwell up to the second floor was somehow hotter, the air inside the narrow hall stifling. Her room was better only because of the open window and the slow, squeaky fan turning overhead and she flopped down onto her face on the narrow bed.

The shrill ring of the satellite phone on the bedside table kept her from tumbling over the edge into sleep but she only grunted and rolled onto her back as she answered it, “Perfect timing.”

“Oh yeah?” Callie answered, her tone amused. “You sound tired, sweetie.”

“Don’t you dare hang up that phone, Calliope,” Arizona ordered, crossing her arms over her eyes and propping the phone on the pillow next to her head. “I’ll just call you back and blow up the phone.”

“You need to sleep,” countered Callie.

Arizona sighed. That was true. For all that she’d just woken up from one, she could seriously use a nap. The chairs in the clinic sucked for sleeping. Of course, this bed wasn’t ideal either. It was missing a good two feet of width and also a hot Latina surgeon that she was crazy in love with. “Shouldn’t you still be asleep?” she asked instead. It was early afternoon in Malawi, which meant it was early morning in Seattle. “And you’ve got that whole big bed too,” she added enviously.

Callie chuckled. “It’s cold,” she said immediately.

Groaning, Arizona let her wife hear it. “Don’t talk to me about cold, Calliope. It’s over a hundred for the fifth day in a row.” For all that though, she could hear children outside playing, giggling as they chased a ball around.

“It’s not cold outside, it’s cold in our bed,” Callie corrected her, eliciting an entirely different kind of groan from her partner.

“Mean.”

Laughing again, the sheets of their bed rustled as Callie settled in deeper. “Sorry, baby.”

“So, what have you got going on today?” Arizona asked, changing the subject for her own sanity. The medicine was the key. Focus on the medicine and get home to Callie - that was her mantra now. Chatting through their cases didn’t take up nearly enough time though and Callie sighed heavily. “What is it, Calliope?”

“It’s you,” Callie answered her. “You sound tired, Arizona,” she continued before the blonde could protest. “And I’m not there, so I’m going to worry about you. Just promise me that you’re taking care of yourself, alright? Please? For me, just promise that you’re taking care of yourself, okay? I’ll sleep better if you promise me that.”

Arizona breathed deep, feeling the ache in her chest that had been there since her plane had lifted off in Seattle. “I’m okay, Calliope,” she promised. “You don’t need to worry about me.”

“I’m your wife,” Callie interjected. “I’m going to worry about you, Arizona. And I’m going to hang up and I want you to get some sleep, okay?”

“I have a surgery,” Arizona cut in, not wanting Callie to hang up the phone. “But I promise that as soon as I’m done, I’ll go to sleep.” The brunette sighed and Arizona felt a stab of longing for their bed, her wife’s arms around her. “Long distance sucks,” she said, grumbling. “And I think I snapped at one of the surgeons today. He told me to call my girl if it meant I would stop.”

“Because you need to sleep,” Callie insisted, laughing lightly. “You promise me you’ll go to bed early tonight?” she pressed. The care was practically dripping from her words.

There was nothing Arizona could do but agree. “Of course I promise, Calliope.”

“You’re going to rock your surgery,” Callie said. “And I love you.” Arizona could practically hear her smile now. “And Africa loves you too. But they can’t keep you. Because you’re mine,” she declared teasingly.

“I’m so yours, Calliope,” Arizona confirmed tiredly, sitting up and rubbing at her eyes with a groan.

“Arizona…”

“I will go straight to bed, I swear,” she reiterated, leaning forward to watch the kids outside on the floor below her window. The kids here fascinated her, so much more innocent, less jaded than so many of the children back home. And the way they played… Even the sick ones at the clinic, so many of them, even the really sick ones, they were just happy kids, even dealing with the things they were dealing with. It was amazing to watch. And it made her wonder, almost against her will, if she was raising a child, with Callie of course, because doing it without her wasn’t an option, what would their child be like… It might be related to how she was completely head over heels in love with her, but Arizona was quite sure that any child raised by Calliope Torres would be very near perfection.

“I’ll let you go, babe,” Callie said, warm voice in her ear drawing her back to the present. “Good luck on your surgery and sweet dreams, okay? I love you.”

Arizona had to swallow a lump of emotion but knew her voice was choked up as she spoke, “I love you, Calliope. I’ll call you tomorrow?”

“You’d better. I want to hear about the kick-ass surgery my awesome wife’s teaching tonight,” Callie told her lovingly. “Good night, honey.”

“Good morning,” Arizona answered her, reluctantly hanging up the phone and dropping it to the mattress. A second later she flopped back down beside it, watching the fan spin overhead and listening to the noise of the kids interspersed with the sounds of traffic outside.

Being a surgeon had been her dream for a long time. And then she’d met Callie in that bar and took her home and her entire life had shifted. Callie had become her dream, her whole world. Could she add something to that world, their life together? Could she give Callie a child, commit her whole life to a baby? She wanted to say yes, because any life created with Callie would be a gift she’d never imagined for her own future. But she’d been scared forever of having a kid. And even trying to work through that, to keep her promise to Callie to do her best to want kids for herself and not just to keep her partner happy, she was still scared to death to want that.

And watching her patients and their parents, these sick kids and their parents who just had to watch their kids be ill, sometimes even die, her whole career they had always been what she’d pointed to when asked why she didn’t want kids of her own. Because being the parent in those chairs in the waiting room, it would kill her. To have a kid of her own be sick and to not be allowed to help, would literally kill her.

And maybe, just maybe, it had been that she hadn’t known, hadn’t loved Callie yet, but she could almost see their child now where she had never been able to imagine one before. And the thought of that, of anything making that baby cry, ever, filled her with icy terror, but for the first time in her life, that didn’t make the idea of having a child impossible. Maybe it really was like Callie had decided in the wake of the shooting - it was who she was having a child with that made the difference. And she genuinely believed that she could do anything if Calliope was the one she was doing it with.

The alarm on the table across the little room beeped and she shook herself out of her startling introspection. She was here for the medicine and she had an awesome surgery to perform. There was no time right now for mind numbingly terrifying thoughts about maybe having a baby with the love of her life.

That would have to wait for at least a little while.

The surgery went smoothly, her surgeons each skilled in their own rights, even if they had tendencies that she’d long since trained out of Alex. She just had a certain way she liked things to run in her OR. She was a control freak like that. But she wasn’t a monster about it, no matter what Callie had teased more than once about. Every surgeon thought their way was right, though. And there was a reason that she was here in Africa to train these doctors - she was the best.

Even the best got exhausted though, she reflected as she trudged across the street back to her place under the escort of one of her patient’s older teenaged brother. He was the translator between herself and his parents, speaking choppy English where they spoke almost none, so she wasn’t surprised when he said her name hesitantly as she started to go upstairs to her room.

“Dr. Robbins, I wanted - we, my parents and I, we wished to thank you,” he said, words interspersed with pauses and hesitation as he searched his brain for the right words.

“No problem,” Arizona promised, clapping a hand to his shoulder and hiding a yawn behind a smile. “Your sister’s going to be okay, you know?”

He nodded, smiling shyly. “Because of you. Because you came here.”

“Happy to help,” she told him. And she was. She missed Callie with every single breath, but she was happy that she’d come here. And she was grateful for the chance to do what she was doing for this place. “Good night, Zeke.” That wasn’t how his name was pronounced but it was the best approximation she’d been able to manage. He took it with a smile.

“Good night, Dr. Robbins.”

Fingers fumbled on the keys, but she typed an email to Callie on her phone telling her about the outcome of the surgery and assuring her that she was going to bed, sending it when she reached her room. The return email a few seconds later made her smile. She loved that woman more than anyone or anything else in the world. And she was born to come here and help these people, she knew that. And it would have long term effects, she knew that too. But it was short term for her. She wasn’t supposed to stay here. There were doctors out there and their calling was here.

The only thing she knew that she wanted to be doing in a year, five years, ten, twelve, fifteen, twenty - any point in the rest of her life - was loving Calliope Torres.

And even with her suddenly ambivalent feelings about babies, she slept soundly. Because no matter what happened, she was going to be with Callie. And that was all she really needed to know.


	12. Chapter 12

Work distracted Callie somewhat, and she made a point of not spending as much time at the bar as she wanted to. She wanted her wife back, not to become an alcoholic. The house had never been cleaner though. And Tim, Alex, and Teddy helped out, hanging out and doing their best to keep her busy. Two months and she was wrapping herself up in her cartilage research to keep from feeling crazy. She missed Arizona every second of every day. The number of days till she saw her again was finally less than the number of days she had been gone, though. Someone, Tim or Teddy she thought, had put a countdown on the fridge and she marked a day off with a flourish with every morning coffee.

The numbers were down to under two weeks when Callie’s cartilage went from liquid to an elasticized solid. She cried for an hour after she hung up the phone with Arizona that night. The Chief joked that they were his dream team couple between her imminent medical trial and Arizona’s Carter Madison award, the clinic in Africa stabilizing and starting to prosper.

The day she marked the last marker off she didn’t sleep at all, just lay in the middle of their bed and waited impatiently for her alarm to go off. Thankfully, Arizona’s final flight was coming in early. She’d gotten the call the night before about Arizona’s departure from the airport in Africa after a long bus ride and had promptly informed the Chief that she was taking two days off. She was already dressed and ready when Tim knocked on the door to her bedroom, up like a shot and dragging him along by the hand.

“It’s time,” she said eagerly, hearing him laugh behind her. “Is Teddy coming?”

“She and Alex are going to see her tomorrow for lunch if you two can drag yourselves apart and out of bed,” he answered knowingly.

Callie just scoffed, laughing. “We’ll see about that.” Of course she wanted to sleep with her wife, but more than the sex, she just wanted to sleep with her held in her arms. She wanted to spend the next three months with Arizona wrapped up in her arms, making up for every second they’d been apart.

Tim drove to the airport, Callie’s knee bouncing while they made the drive to Sea-Tac, practically hopping and clinging to his hand while they scanned the arrivals board. Callie was too eager to read though and Tim had to steer her in the right direction, pointing her at the correct gate and standing behind her with both hands on her shoulders to keep her grounded.

The blonde hair was tricky to spot under the faded baseball cap, an inherited gift from Tim that she’d initially given to him. It had been to Iraq with him all three times and he’d put it on her head three months earlier in this airport with the gruff instruction to bring it back to him. His arm extended to point out the faded Patriots logo at the same time Arizona spotted them, the blonde hoisting her bag on her shoulder and pushing her way through the line of people.

Dropping her bag without a care, she jumped into Callie’s arms, legs winding around her waist while she scattered quick kisses all over her face before she captured her lips, both hands on her face and in her hair, sliding and touching everything she could. “I love you,” she broke the kiss to gasp, Callie nipping firmly at her lip. “I can never leave you again. I can’t do it. I’ve been going crazy missing you,” she panted between quick, hard kisses.

“Yes,” Callie agreed simply, breathing hard as she set her wife back down on her feet. “Let me look at you.” She pushed back lightly on her hips though she only held her at arm’s length, dark eyes raking her form. Under faded blue jeans and a fitted t-shirt that hit right at the waist and left a tiny sliver of skin between shirt and pants, Arizona was sporting a tan, her hair lighter than Callie was used to, but her happy, dimpled smile was unchanged, her eyes were as blue as ever. “Oh God, I missed you,” she sighed, drawing her back into her body.

Arms curled up her back, holding her tightly. “Calliope…” No one but Arizona said her name like that and Callie buried her face in her wife’s neck, breathing her in.

Over Callie’s shoulder, Arizona could see Tim waiting patiently. “Glad you’re home, sis,” he said, her abandoned bag slung across his chest.

Callie loosened her hold gradually to let the siblings get to each other, Tim leaning over to speak into her ear. “Me too,” Arizona said, smiling up at him. One hand adjusted his cap on her head. “Do you want your hat back?” she asked, smirking.

He flicked the frayed bill with two fingers as Arizona stepped backward slowly into Callie’s welcoming arms, the Latina wrapping her up tightly. “Keep it. It looks good on you.”

“It does,” Callie agreed, kissing her neck. Of course, she hadn’t seen her in person in three months so she could be wearing anything and she was pretty sure that it would be making her mouth water.

Leaning into the attention, Arizona laughed, hands rubbing over the arms at her waist. “How about we get my luggage and we go home? I want to go home.”

Tim laughed, slinging an arm around his sister’s shoulders while she took Callie’s hand and laced their fingers together. She wasn’t letting her go yet, not anytime soon either. The luggage had only just started rotating on the track, but Arizona was distracted by the steady drip of rain on the roof high above them, blonde head leaning back to watch it through the wide, tall windows.

“I missed the rain,” she sighed, missing the way Callie’s eyes raked her profile. She couldn’t keep her eyes off of her. The laptop was no substitute for Arizona in person. She definitely wasn’t leaving the country again. At least not anywhere she couldn’t go along. No way. She couldn’t handle it again.

“Well, it’s coming down out there,” Tim assured her, exchanging grins with his sister-in-law. It was good to have Arizona back. Callie wasn’t sure she was ever going to stop smiling.

“If you can handle the bags, Tim, I can go get the car,” she offered, Arizona instantly squeezing her hand and grabbing her arm with her other hand, fingers winding into the long sleeved t-shirt Callie was wearing.

Hanging onto her, Arizona shook her head sharply, standing on her toes to kiss her cheek, her ear, her neck. “Oh, no, baby, you’re not going anywhere without me,” she declared, smiling cheerfully. “We can all walk to the car. A little rain never hurt anybody,” she said, hugging Callie’s arm. “Ooh, Tim, there it goes,” she directed, pointing as her bag went by on the conveyor. Rolling his eyes, he waded gamely into the crowd after the suitcase. Arizona promptly turned Callie bodily into her, kissing her again. She didn’t want to ever stop doing this. “I cannot wait to be alone with you,” she breathed, smiling against her wife’s lips. She pulled back as she realized the time. “Wait, you don’t have to go to work today, do you?”

Callie laughed, shaking her head. “No. I told the Chief I was taking two days.”

“We’re going to need more days,” Arizona murmured as she kissed her again. “We won’t have made up the first two weeks in two days, Calliope.”

Still laughing, Callie’s smile grew. “Well, Dr. Webber seemed like he was under the impression you’d be back at work next week. Is he wrong?”

Arizona went back to her neck, hands sliding possessively into the back pockets of Callie’s jeans. “That might work out if you’re home with me too. Might not if you’re working so much I still never see you.”

Callie kissed her hard, not caring that they were in a crowded airport. “You’ll see me,” she promised. “I’m going to be so all over you you’ll be sick of me by the day after tomorrow.”

“That sounds promising - the being all over me, I mean - but I will never be sick of you, Calliope,” Arizona returned, kissing her until Tim’s clearing throat drew her away to glare sweetly at him, burrowing into Callie’s arms and resting her head on her chest.

“At least save it till we get home,” he suggested, shooting his eyes at a group of teenage boys who made no effort to hide their leering. They scampered when Tim took a quick step toward them.

Arizona determinately kissed her again, uncaring. “Let them have a little treat,” she reasoned, taking a moment to grope a healthy ass before withdrawing. “We’ll be having our fun all night. And tomorrow…”

“Alex and Teddy want to have lunch with us tomorrow,” Callie informed her, smiling.

Blinking, the blonde considered that momentarily. “Energy. Good.” Tim just rolled his eyes with an inaudible grumble. “You don’t have to stay at the house, Timothy. You’re more than welcome to crash at Teddy’s. And take Alex with you,” she suggested with a smirk. She just wanted to be alone with her wife. Details outside of that didn’t matter at the moment.

“Arizona…” chided Callie lightly. She dearly wanted to be selfish with her, but she wasn’t the only one who’d been missing Arizona.

Whining, the blonde gave them both a grumpy look. “Fine, but we’re making out in the car,” she declared stubbornly, leading Callie toward the door by the hand. However, as soon as they were out of the breezeway and incoming traffic, Arizona was pulling her out from under the cover and into the rain. Laughing as she leaned her face back into the steady, fast drops, Arizona guided Callie to spin her, dancing under her wife’s arm with a happy grin.

“You’re a goof,” Callie said fondly, guiding Arizona back against her and swaying the two of them, in no hurry to escape the precipitation. She’d been in Seattle more than two years now and she still loved the rain.

Arizona’s blonde head leaned back onto her shoulder and she pecked a kiss under Callie’s jaw. “You love it.”

“I really, really do,” agreed the Latina, speaking into her ear. “You’re my goof.” Water was soaking into both of their clothes but neither one cared. “I really missed you,” she confessed in a whisper. “I’m glad you’re home.”

“Calliope, you have no idea how happy I am to be home,” Arizona replied.

Callie shook her head, burying her face into her wife’s neck. “Oh, I do so, Arizona Robbins.” She breathed her in deeply, chuckling. “You smell like airports.”

“The rain should help with that,” teased Arizona, smiling up at her. “But let’s go home and we can take a shower.”

“That didn’t take long,” Tim commented with a laugh.

Callie nudged them forward a few steps, following him toward the car under the rain. “It took about ten minutes. How much more can you expect from me? I mean, you’ve seen me the last three months,” she said, not thinking about how it sounded until Arizona went stiff in her arms. “Babe, Arizona, no. That is not what I meant! I am so unbelievably proud of you and I love you more than anyone. But you know that I missed you. That is all I meant.”

“It’s been pretty pathetic, sis,” Tim agreed with a laugh. “The house has never been cleaner though. That’s all she’d do - cook, clean, her cartilage research thing, surgery. Rinse and repeat over and over again.”

“Calliope…”

“Don’t tell me you’re sorry,” Callie requested before she could do just that. “Because I’m not sorry that you went. You did incredible, amazing, awesome things for an entire country, Arizona. And you’re kind, and generous, caring, and the most amazing person I’ve ever known. If you ever have to leave the country again, I’ll just have to go with you, that’s all.”

Swallowing hard, Arizona mustered her nerve. In between surgery and missing Callie, she’d been doing a lot of thinking. She’d seen and treated so many children while she’d been gone, children whose parents were desperate to provide care for them but there simply wasn’t a way to do it. Hopefully she’d been able to help with that somewhat. 

It made her think, though. She knew that Callie wanted children, and she knew that Callie would be an amazing mother. It had taken a while for her to come around to the idea, but something had changed watching those kids, those happy kids who didn’t know or care that they were sick and whose parents loved them no matter what. She’d found herself imagining a baby in her life, their baby, her baby with her wife. She found herself burning for it. Nothing in the world would make her happier than having that with Calliope.

Lifting her face to nip at Callie’s earlobe, she took another deep breath. “Hey,” she whispered, lips brushing against her ear. “I want us to have a baby.”

Callie stumbled against her back in her shock, Arizona catching them with a laugh. “Arizona… what-I-?”

“Calliope, breathe,” coaxed the blonde with a laugh, moving them forward again. Tim was several yards ahead of them now. “I’m not saying tomorrow, or next week, I’m just saying that I’m open to it.” She could feel the hard breathing against the back of her neck, the combination of breath and rain sending a shiver down her spine.

Callie abruptly spun her to face herself, needing to see her wife’s eyes. “Arizona…”

“I know you thought I was never going to be ready, but Africa - I have so much I want to tell you. About everything. And we have time to talk about it all, but I just… couldn’t wait,” she said earnestly. “I want to have a baby with you, Calliope. And I don’t care how or when or how many as long as they’re our kids.”

“Are you serious? Are you being serious right now?” Callie asked breathlessly. This was a dream of hers, the way Africa and the Carter Madison had been a dream of Arizona’s. But Arizona herself was the only thing she needed. She would never trade her relationship with her wife for anything, even a baby. Not if it wasn’t really what Arizona wanted.

The blonde nodded, adjusting her cap on her head as she smiled. “I’m serious, Calliope.”

“Oh, I need to get you home, now,” Callie breathed, hands on her hips drawing her in. “I love you. I’m in love with you. I am so in love with you, Arizona Robbins,” she said, softly kissing her in between declarations.

Arizona smiled into the kisses, dimples appearing. “Does that mean you’ll have a baby with me?” she checked, Callie’s lips back on hers answer enough.

Too quickly, they were torn away again. “Seriously?” Callie questioned again. “This isn’t just - I know you just got home and - but Arizona I’m so happy that you’re home and you don’t have to say anything o-or do anything to make me happier than that, because nothing on this earth makes me happier than you, here, with me right now…”

It was Arizona’s turn to cut her off with a kiss, Tim already at the car and putting his sister’s luggage in the trunk. “Calliope Torres, I want to have a baby with you. And I hope that makes you happy, but that’s not why I want to have a baby with you.” She shrugged, smile full of dimples again. “I just want one. Or two. Or ten.” Callie laughed and Arizona echoed it. “Probably not ten,” she corrected herself. “Maybe we’ll start with one and see how it goes?”

“It’s perfect,” Callie gasped, stealing another kiss. “You’re here and it’s perfect, Arizona.” Another kiss. “But we’re making out in the parking lot of the airport and it’s raining and your brother is waiting on us. Let’s go home.”

Nodding her agreement into another kiss, Arizona broke away to pull her along. Tim had already opened the back door knowingly, sure that they wouldn’t want to even sit apart, and Arizona squealed as Callie goosed her butt as she climbed into the back of her brother’s SUV. “You’re the best, Tim,” she turned around to say, kissing his cheek before both hands dragged Callie into the car with her, giggling.

Tim was grateful for the surprisingly chaste snuggling in his rearview mirror, Arizona buckling into the middle seatbelt so she could stay cuddled underneath Callie’s arm, blonde head on her wife’s shoulder. Callie just kept pressing kisses to her soft blonde hair, fingers laced through Arizona’s. She was happy to have her home, trying not to get too excited about the hope Arizona had lit inside of her. A baby, Arizona’s baby, would be incredible, but she would completely understand if Arizona was just saying stuff because she was happy to be home.

Parking in the driveway, Tim gallantly opened the door for them, offering a hand down out of the car to each of them. He got the luggage while Callie got the door to the house. It was warm and dry inside and Arizona dropped her jacket and cap over the banister while she looked around, drinking in every detail of being in her own home, the house she shared with her family. “I missed the house,” she sighed. “They had me in this tiny little apartment and it was nice enough, but there were no pictures and the bed was too little and it didn’t smell right.” Callie slid up behind her, both arms slipping around her waist to lean her back against herself. “This is home,” Arizona whispered, snuggling into the hold.

“I bet you’re tired,” murmured Callie, shifting them as Tim hauled the luggage through the doors and straight up the staircase. 

Alex jogged down right after Tim reach the top. “Robbins is home?” he asked, eager in spite of himself.

“Hey Alex,” she said in greeting, dragging herself reluctantly out of Callie’s arms to hug her protégé. “You been good?”

“Yeah, boss. Always,” he answered, grinning. “When you coming back to work? Because Montgomery has been…”

A throat clearing on the stairs made him stop speaking in a hurry and Arizona leaned around him to look up the stairwell. “You have got to be kidding me…” she muttered, shaking her head as Addison Montgomery descended the stairs. “Has this been happening for three months? In my house…?” Addison had been the surgeon to call for any of her cases involving infants while she’d been gone. And her friends had made no secret of their attraction to each other the last time Addie had been in Seattle.

Addison laughed, hugging her friend tightly. “No, not three months. Pretty much just last night.” Alex coughed and she corrected herself, “The last two nights.”

Arizona sent a look over her shoulder at Callie. “And did you know about this?”

“What?” Brown eyes blinked at her in surprise. “No! I’ve been working every day. I’ve been at the hospital.”

Alex nodded confirmation of the alibi, Arizona’s mouth pulling down at the corners. “She hasn’t had a day off since you left, boss,” he lowered his voice to tell her, shrugging when Callie sent him a sharp look at the betrayal.

“Addie, if you could stay in town for a day or two, I have something I want to talk to you about,” Arizona said, eyes staying on Callie who was diligently avoiding her gaze. “And Alex, I’ll check in with you tomorrow. Lunch, right?”

“Yeah,” he said, sensing that he was being dismissed. “I’ll see you.”

They were alone, Tim jogging out after the others, when Arizona spoke again. “Calliope…” She took both of her wife’s hands and led them up the stairs toward their bedroom, walking backwards up the steps. “You haven’t taken a day off in three months? Baby, you told me you were taking care of yourself,” she chided gently, tone even. Callie had even berated her more than once about not taking care of herself while she’d been gone.

“Arizona…”

“You look tired,” the blonde interjected softly. “Did you sleep last night?”

Biting her lip, Callie confessed, “Last night, I guess not, but I have been sleeping. I promise. And I’m fine,” she insisted. “I was just excited to see you finally and I couldn’t sleep.”

“Well, you’re going to sleep now,” Arizona declared, fingers winding into her lover’s shirt. She didn’t strip it off though, just used the leverage to pull her into their room. “We’re both going to sleep, okay? Because I have been dreaming about you, and about just sleeping with you.” She smiled slowly, dimples fully in place. “I would be happy to tear your clothes off, and I fully intend to, Calliope, but first I just want to sleep in the same place with you, with your arms around me and…”

“Arizona, anything we do is going to make me happy, baby,” Callie said softly. “Can I just make one request?”

“Anything in the world that you want is yours,” promised Arizona in a heartbeat.

“Can we lose the jeans?”

Arizona didn’t answer verbally, toeing off her shoes without bothering to untie them and kicking them across the room. Normally the one who picked Callie’s clothes up off the floor, she shucked her jeans off without a second thought. “You too. Now, please,” she cheerfully ordered, helping her wife’s efforts along by handling the belt and button and zipper herself while Callie kicked off her own sneakers.

Falling into bed, Arizona couldn’t resist kissing her wife, the touch of bare legs against each other driving her desire to sleep almost completely out of her head. Unfortunately, her body didn’t receive the message and she broke the kiss to yawn, Callie giggling. “Arizona, it’s okay. We will get naked later. Just come here,” she coaxed, one hand sliding into blonde hair to guide her head to her own chest, arm wrapping around her shoulder as they tangled their legs together.

“Oh my God,” Arizona sighed as she breathed deeply, feeling as if her entire body spontaneously relaxed now that she was in their bed, in her wife’s embrace. She’d slept fine in Africa, not well, but not too bad either, but this was what her body had been craving that whole time. “I don’t want to ever sleep without you again, Calliope.”

A kiss landed on her hair. “You got a deal,” Callie murmured, feeling her own comfort soaking in through her pores as she finally found the warmth she’d reached for every night on the other half of the bed. It took them a less than a minute to fall asleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Jetlag was a bitch, Arizona decided as she jerked awake at one in the morning. She’d been home just less than a full day, but had made no effort to correct her sleeping schedule. Sleeping through the morning had done nothing to help her out. And apparently their efforts to tire each other out through multiple rounds of sex had been less successful than anticipated.

At least, for her. Callie was sleeping soundly beside her. Keeping still and trying to focus on the steady in and out of her wife’s breathing didn’t help. She was completely wide awake. It wasn’t Callie’s fault that her body was still on the clock of another country. She’d been quietly nervous that after three months of sleeping alone she’d be uncomfortable sharing space again but she already knew that wasn’t going to be an issue. She’d never been more relaxed or comfortable in her life than she was laying next to Calliope.

She just couldn’t sleep.

A solution came to mind (more of the same recipe they’d used to get to sleep in the first place - sex until they couldn’t keep themselves up anymore) but she tried not to think about it. Callie was asleep. It wouldn’t be right to wake her up just because she couldn’t sleep. And was perpetually hot for her. Her fingertips were itching to touch her, as a matter of fact. On the other hand, Callie had been just as celibate as she had been the last three months. And there was nothing minimal about their desire for each other. Waking Callie up to get her off couldn’t have a downside, could it? It’s not like either of them had to work later…

Without stopping to think too long about it (she didn’t want to talk herself out of it now that she’d talked herself into it), Arizona leaned over Callie’s ear. “Calliope…” The brunette grunted and twitched but made no other response. “I can’t sleep. Wake up so I can do you,” she continued, lightly shaking Callie’s shoulder.

Moaning, Callie slowly blinked one eye open at her, clearly disoriented. “Mmh, babe, what?” Arizona almost wished she could have second thoughts about waking Callie up, but she was delightful when she was sleepy. Even when she was grumpy or didn’t know exactly what was going on. And she needed to touch her. “What’s wrong?”

Arizona smiled, dropping a kiss against the skin under Callie’s ear and feeling her lover shift to give her more room. “I want you,” whispered Arizona, breathing the words straight into her ear.

“Oh.” It took Callie a second more to realize exactly what that meant. “Oh, right…” Turning over, she caught the back of Arizona’s neck and drew her into a kiss, the blonde’s body sliding onto her immediately. Thank goodness neither had been aware enough to put on clothes after their last explosive round, because the press of flesh on flesh was awesome. And Arizona’s arousal was instantly obvious on her skin, Callie moving a thigh between her legs to help her out.

The pressure where she needed it made Arizona moan into the kiss, her body instinctively rocking down into the friction. Hell yes. This is what she needed. This was what her body craved. This and air. She had to break the kiss to breathe, panting hard for breath.

“You really needed this, didn’t you?” Callie asked, a bit breathless herself. She lifted her head to kiss Arizona’s neck and jaw, sucking on her collarbones. “You could have woken me up sooner,” she said with a smile.

“Oh, I didn’t wait that long,” Arizona confessed honestly, gasping and laughing as she rode Callie’s leg. Then a hand was squirming in between them and fingers were spreading her wetness, rolling her clit. “Oh fuck!”

Callie leaned her head back as she explored her, watching Arizona gasp and moan above her. The blonde was braced on both hands, her eyes squeezed closed hard. She was soaking wet and burning hot, clearly ready for anything Callie wanted to give her. She kept her fingers light though, wanting to play a little, draw it out of her. “Did you do this in Africa?” she asked, tone deliberately light as if she wasn’t preparing to fuck her wife’s brains out.

It took Arizona a few seconds to realize she was supposed to respond. “Nngh, do what?”

“Touch yourself,” Callie clarified, shifting lower to take a nipple into her mouth. She withdrew to ask again, “Did you imagine I was there with you?” Arizona’s gasping, groaning moan was answer enough. “Did it feel like this?”

“No, not like this!” Arizona ground out, rocking desperately against the fingers that still weren’t inside her. Nothing felt like this. The touch of her own hand was good enough, but she needed Callie if she wanted real pleasure. “Please…” she begged. “Please, I need…”

Callie kissed her again, thumb pressing against her clit while two fingers circled her entrance. “I know,” she murmured sympathetically, though she did nothing to relieve her. “We’ll get there.” She slid one fingertip where Arizona needed it, though the thrust was quick and shallow. “Talk to me about Africa,” she requested again, sounding calm against all reason. Arizona was rocking on her and panting like she was running a marathon. If it wasn’t making her crazy, the contrast would have almost been funny.

“What?” she gasped. How could she be expected to talk right now? She just wanted to get fucked. And to turn the tables and fuck Callie until she couldn’t move. Of course, the way Callie was teasing her, she was in for the reciprocation of a lifetime…

Callie gave her some relief and entered her with one finger, Arizona’s pace quickening in a heartbeat at the penetration. “Just answer the questions, Arizona,” she coaxed, blonde head nodding desperately as she thrust herself against Callie’s hand. “Did you make yourself come in Africa? Like I’m going to make you come?”

“Yes,” answered Arizona on a sharp breath. “It was three months, Calliope!”

“Did you think about me?” Callie asked her next question, rewarding her with a thrust of her own hips to drive the finger deeper inside of her.

“Every time!” Arizona’s eyes were squeezed closed tightly, her entire body tensed to explode. It wasn’t going to take much more. “All the time,” she added pleadingly. She’d thought about Callie every hour of every day she’d been gone and missed her every night. But the clinic had kept her plenty busy and exhausted. But the few times she’d been unable to deny her need for an orgasm (normally after talking to Callie or seeing her face on the computer), her gorgeous wife had been the only thought in her head. And none of them had felt anything like this. “God, I missed this,” she gasped out, collapsing forward as her peak hit her like a truck, Callie adding a second finger to her next stoke.

Arizona’s hips were jerking beyond her control, riding Callie’s hand while she gaped for breath and pleaded with her lover for it to never, ever stop. Callie obliged the best she could, keeping her fingers moving inside her and adding her hips to the equation to deepen her thrusts. Arizona’s head was buried in the pillow above her shoulder and Callie sucked a nipple into her mouth to drive her higher still. The next orgasm tore through her without warning, Arizona pitching headlong into it. Callie’s hand on her hip kept her steady, her body still pushing against the tanned goddess beneath her.

“That’s my girl,” Callie coaxed as she switched breasts. “You’re so hot, Arizona. And so tight,” she moaned, kissing the flesh that was swaying over her face with every hard thrust. “You feel so good…” 

Teeth on her aching nipple, combined with the words against her skin and the curling fingers inside her threw her into a third, smaller and weaker, orgasm and Arizona gasped for mercy. She had no doubt that Callie could keep her coming all night long, but she wanted to make her feel good too. And if she could make Callie feel half as good as she felt right now, she’d be doing pretty damn good. She wasn’t sure she’d ever come so hard in her life. She’d definitely never felt so hazily blissed out before.

“Oh my God,” panted Arizona, struggling to catch her breath. “Awesome!” She fell off of her wife as Callie withdrew her fingers, flopping onto her side and curling up slightly around her still contracting core. “Oh my God, waking you up was the best idea I’ve ever had!” she declared breathlessly.

Callie followed her with a laugh, gently pushing the blonde onto her back and rubbing her stomach lightly with one hand. She loved that she could still feel the muscles spasming under the soft, sweat slicked skin. “I hope you weren’t hesitating to wake me up for that,” she said with a warm chuckle. “Anytime you need that, you just wake me up. Please.”

And just like that, feeling her body relaxing into warm, happy fatigue, Arizona knew she could sleep now. But she burned to make Callie feel good. She needed to touch her the way she’d dreamed about touching her a thousand times over the last three months. “I know we’ve said this, but I can’t ever leave you again,” she said, starting to catch her breath. “And not just because of that,” she clarified quickly, watching Callie’s eyebrow rise. God, she loved that eyebrow. And the warm, sweet, loving smile on her full lips, she loved that too. “I just need you, Calliope. And I don’t want to live a day that you’re not there.”

“I’m here,” Callie murmured, the arm she was leaning on reaching up to stroke sweaty blonde hair back from her face. “Of course, I don’t disagree with anything you’re saying…” She laughed when Arizona grinned up at her, wearily picking her head up to kiss her. “Mmh, I’m really glad you woke me up,” she said against her wife’s lips. Arizona sucked on her bottom lip. She was really glad she’d woken Callie up too. “Think you can sleep now?” Callie asked in between increasingly heated kisses, Arizona’s hand in her hair keeping her from withdrawing.

“Don’t want to right now,” declared Arizona, changing the angle and drawing Callie back to her. “But if you’re too tired…”

Callie just shook her head, disheveled black hair falling around both of their faces. “Where do you want me?” she asked instead, perfectly willing to do anything Arizona wanted. The smile on her face went positively sexy. “When you thought about us, at night when you were all alone, what was your favorite? How did you take me?”

This woman was going to be the death of her. Months apart and she said that?! “Holy hell! You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?” she gasped, Callie just smiling down at her. The expression was promising. Anything she asked for, she would get. “How did I take you?” she echoed the question, swallowing hard when Callie just arched that damn eyebrow at her again. Images, hundreds of images, shot through her brain. “Calliope, you’re letting a starving person loose in a grocery store, here…” she offered warningly.

Callie just shrugged. “Eat away,” she invited her, smirking at the wide blue eyes that her deliberate choice of words got her.

Arizona was breathing hard again without realizing it, eyes darting everywhere as she tried to organize her lust choked brain enough to pick somewhere to get started. “Calliope, I really don’t think you know what you’re volunteering for…” Arizona said hoarsely, offering her one more chance to roll over and go back to sleep.

“Arizona, we haven’t made love in three months,” the brunette countered. “I know exactly what I’m asking for. Now, are you going to tell me what you want, or should I start on myself?” 

An olive skinned hand slid down her chest and Arizona lunged into action, pushing Callie onto her back and then over again so she was on her front in the middle of the bed. Taken from behind had always been one of Callie’s favorites. It seemed like a good place to start. “This okay?” Arizona leaned over her to ask even as Callie lifted her hips in invitation.

Callie just growled, “Arizona…” She was clearly as needy as Arizona for contact, moaning when breasts pressed into her back, two fingers immediately thrusting inside. Working Arizona up always had the same effect on her and she knew it wouldn’t take much.

And Arizona could feel it too so she immediately adopted a slow, deep rhythm. She’d been given three breathtaking, heart-stopping orgasms, yes, but Callie had been in no hurry to give them to her. “Do you know how much I love you?” Arizona whispered as she leaned her head in to suck on the back of her neck, bracing her body on the hand that wasn’t moving inside her wife. Good Lord, she’d missed this.

“Show me,” Callie pleaded, needing more of everything Arizona could give her. It was the perfect thing for her to say and Arizona could feel herself fall deeper in love with her. Reaching back with one hand, Callie wound her fingers into blonde hair, holding her close. She could feel Arizona scattering kisses across her neck and her shoulder as she started moving faster, going deeper.

Breathing grew harder, but Arizona kept her pace steady and strong. She knew exactly how much more it would take to take her over the peak and she kept Callie dancing on the edge of that line. “I dreamed about you, Calliope. All the time. If I dreamed at all, it was about you.” Moaning, Callie buried her face in the sheets, her body arching back into Arizona’s. “I dreamed about doing this once or twice, too,” she continued, sucking an earlobe into her mouth.

“Arizona, please,” Callie ground out, rocking herself between the bed and Arizona behind her. This felt incredible, but she needed to come or she was going to scream. In fact, she might scream either way. She just needed to come with her wife inside her.

Teeth nipped her neck and Arizona curled her fingers. “Come for me.” Callie obeyed with a throaty moan, turning her face into the pillow to muffle the sound while her hand gripped blonde hair hard. Arizona stayed pressed against her, feeling her ride it out as the body below her went tight everywhere before spontaneously relaxing. The hand in her hair loosened slowly and Callie turned her face to catch a breath while Arizona peppered her face and neck with kisses. “I love you.”

“I can tell,” Callie joked lightly, feeling like she could almost just melt into the mattress. She shifted her hips slightly and Arizona pulled out, flopping down beside her. Immediately, Callie pushed herself up on one arm and leaned over to kiss her. “I love you too,” she sighed, slumping back down to rest her head against the back of Arizona’s shoulder while her arm draped across her lover’s body. “Give me a minute to remember how to breathe and you can tell me what’s next on the list,” Callie said as she nuzzled her face into the back of Arizona’s neck.

Moaning a laugh, Arizona felt a quiver shoot through her. Waking Callie really had been her best idea ever. “We can go to sleep,” she offered. She was sure she’d sleep like a baby now. But of course, if making love to her wife again was on offer, she was up for that too.

“We’ll sleep later,” Callie decided. “Your sleep schedule’s already screwed up for tonight anyway. You just have to promise not to hate me tomorrow afternoon when I make you stay up until a normal bedtime.”

“Well, if we go again, you’ll be tired tomorrow afternoon with me,” reasoned Arizona with a smile. “And maybe we could call it an early night together.”

Callie dropped a smacking kiss to the skin she could reach first. “What if we take a shower?” she suggested. “We kind of smell like sex.” She sounded nothing but proud of that fact.

Stretching, Arizona turned over to look up at her. Callie’s sex hair was absolutely incredible. She loved it. She could only imagine how her own hair looked after Callie’s frenzied tugging. And she found the remnants of their earlier activities in the still rising mouth shaped bruises on the Latina’s neck. “We definitely need to take a shower,” she agreed, biting her lip as Callie kissed slowly across the top of her chest.

“Unless you have something else you’d rather do,” offered Callie. “The shower’s not going anywhere.”

Arizona combed fingers into dark hair. It had grown out while she’d been gone. “Let’s take a shower,” she declared hoarsely. They could always have shower sex, but more than that, she just wanted to be close to her. Anything they were doing was fine with her as long as they were close. And if she had a good excuse to touch Callie’s hair, then all the better.

“Will you help me wash my hair?” Callie asked softly, knowing perfectly well how Arizona felt about her hair.

Arizona hummed in satisfaction as she leaned up, Callie moving with her. This woman was perfect. Callie just smirked when she told her so.


	14. Chapter 14

The plan had been to go out for lunch with Alex and Teddy and Tim and Addison, but they hadn’t managed to drag themselves apart, much less out of bed. So when there was a knock on the door of their bedroom, Arizona fell completely out of bed in her surprise, her hair sticking up wildly. “What?!” she called.

“We brought pizza. Stop having sex and come visit with your friends,” Tim yelled back.

“But we’re not even in double digits yet!” Arizona said, ducking Callie’s swat of protest as she heard the groan from the other side of the door. Laughing, she scrambled back onto the bed to kiss her yet again. They were close to double digits (once away, actually), but it was always fun to mess with her brother.

Callie pushed her onto her back with both hands, thriving on the feel of all the bare skin available to her eyes and her hands. “I know you’re hungry,” she said with a laugh.

“Now, Calliope, you know that I have eaten very well this morning,” Arizona teased, dimpled grin locked in place.

“Arizona, I want to be selfish with you, but everyone else missed you too,” Callie reminded her patiently even as she blushed brightly at the not so subtle innuendo.

Arizona stretched languidly through their mussed sheets, pleased and relieved by the pleasant soreness in her muscles. It had been a long three months without her wife. “I want to talk to Addie about our options for a baby if it’s okay with you,” she said, smile growing impossibly as she heard Callie’s shocked intake of breath. “And you feel free to be as selfish with me as you want to be, because I’m going to be doing it to you. I might not let you out of my sight, babe. Like, not for weeks!”

“You were serious about all that baby stuff?” Callie asked as Arizona rolled onto her stomach.

The blonde just laughed, stealing a kiss before she slid off the bed to search for clothes. “Yes, Calliope, I was serious about all that baby stuff,” she echoed, slipping into underwear. “Did you change your mind? Because that’s something I would want to know.”

“No!” yelped Callie too loudly and Arizona sent her a grin over her shoulder as she fastened a bra on. “I mean, no,” she repeated in a more normal tone, matching her wife’s grin. “I absolutely want to have a baby with you, Arizona. I just - can I be honest with you?”

Arizona turned, pulling one of Callie’s long sleeved t-shirts over her head. “Of course,” she said seriously, curling a leg under her as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Honestly, I never really expected you to come around on the baby thing,” Callie confessed, nothing Arizona wasn’t expecting her to say. “And I am honestly okay with that. You are all that I want from life. Just you. Not you and a baby. Not if that’s not what you want.”

Arizona met her eyes, smile slowly growing. “Okay, so what do I have to do to convince you that this is something I want, not just something that I can live with to keep you, but something I genuinely want?”

“You’re not going to lose me,” Callie said, smiling herself. “That is never going to happen. Baby or no baby. And you don’t have to prove anything to me, Arizona.” She crooked two fingers at her, drawing her in. “I just, can we talk about it? I’d like to know why, all of a sudden, you know?”

Crawling forward, Arizona’s knees found places on either side of Callie’s hips, the Latina still covered by the bed sheets. “We can talk about everything,” she promised. “I want to. I want to tell you everything, Calliope.” Her stomach growling made them both laugh. “But apparently everyone’s downstairs waiting on us.” She took a sweet kiss. “We’ll talk. I promise you. Lots of talking.”

Callie grinned, leaning her head back and settling her hands on her partner’s hips. “Talking and sex, and talking and sex, right?”

“Exactly,” agreed the blonde, taking another slow, deeper kiss. Her stomach growled again and they laughed. “Let’s go eat.”

Callie followed her out of bed, getting dressed slowly while she appreciated the view of Arizona in her clothes. It had been too long. And Arizona wore her shirt very well indeed. “You know, after three months of food from Africa, you probably shouldn’t eat that pizza, babe. Your stomach isn’t used to American food anymore.”

Realizing she was right, Arizona swatted her butt sharply. “Damn it! And I love pizza! I’ve missed having pizza after sex!”

Callie laughed, spinning to wrap her arms around her. “How about I make you something?” she proposed. “I can cook and you can visit with everybody.” She turned the blonde around in front of her, putting her back against her chest. “I think we have some chicken and some rice. Fried rice sound okay to you?”

“Yum,” Arizona hummed in approval, Callie kissing her neck with a smack before letting her go so they didn’t fall down the stairs. “Thank you, Calliope. You’re the best wife ever!”

Hearing the familiar buzz of conversation in the living room was a wonderful change while she was cooking, Arizona’s voice in the mix making it perfect. Normally she turned on the radio while she cooked but hearing Arizona regaling their friends with stories of her time in Africa was all she wanted to hear today. Arizona back in their house was all she wanted for the rest of her life.

Tim came into the kitchen to get another round of drinks and hugged her around the shoulders. “She’s been in Africa for three months and you’re still all she can talk about,” he teased her. “Smells good.”

“Did you guys already eat all the pizza?” she asked, laughing lightly, leaning back against his side. Timothy was the best brother in the world and, always friendly, they’d only gotten closer in Arizona’s absence.

“Come on, Cal! You know I saved yours from Karev,” he promised. “You’re gonna come in and sit with us, right?”

Turning her head, she pecked a kiss on his cheek. “Yeah, I’ll be right there. Could you go ahead and grab me a drink?”

“Already got it.”

Arizona dug into her homemade fried rice as soon as Callie put the bowl in her lap, the blonde squirming into her side the second she sat down on the couch. Callie didn’t contribute much to the conversation, content to just listen. Arizona really had been doing amazing work. But now she was back and she grilled Alex and Addie for news of her Peds wing.

It was a little while before Alex and Teddy had to get back to the hospital, leaving Addison and Tim with the reunited couple. Arizona was happily cuddling into her side on the couch and Callie just peacefully stroked fingers through her hair. It had gotten so much longer while she’d been gone. As beautiful as ever, though. And the tan was hot. She was married to a beautiful, caring, generous, selfless, loving woman. The woman who wanted to be the mother of her children. It was almost too good to be true.

Except that it was true. This was her life. Arizona was home, Arizona was in her arms, Arizona was talking about children.

Even as she thought it, Arizona opened her mouth and put words to it, “Addison, I think we’d like to talk to you about having a baby…”

The redhead’s blue eyes widened as she grinned across the coffee table at the couple. “Seriously? Are you being serious right now? Arizona Robbins, if you’re screwing with me…”

“Not screwing with you,” Arizona said, catching the startled looks exchanged between Callie and Tim, a smirking grin growing on her brother’s face.

“I thought we were going to talk about this,” Callie interjected lightly, kissing the side of her head.

“We are,” said Arizona simply. “But you want a baby, I want a baby, and one of the best neonatal specialists in the world is a good friend and she happens to be sitting across the room,” she pointed out with a chuckle. “All the kids I saw in Africa, they were sick and suffering and most of them, they didn’t even care. They were happy. And I got to help them get out of the hospital and hopefully run and play and be even happier.” She breathed deeply, drawing the familiar scent of Callie into her. She’d missed this every day she’d been gone. 

“And I saw their parents. I - it would kill me to have a sick child, but I was raised by a Marine and I can’t be so scared of something that I don’t even try to have it. I was scared for a long time to want kids, Calliope. But seeing what I saw over there, and seeing those parents who love their kids and want the best for them…” She sighed, locking eyes on Callie’s. “I want that with you. I want that to be us.” A beat. “Okay?”

Callie had to swallow hard, couldn’t speak around the lump in her throat. “Okay,” she rasped out. “I love you.”

“I love you,” Arizona echoed in a whisper. “And it’s not like we can get pregnant immediately, you know. It’ll take time and planning and I just want to ask Addie about some details while she’s here. Is that okay with you? We can wait…”

“No, you’re right,” interjected Callie, kissing her quickly. “Go nuts,” she offered with a growing, eager smile. Babies with Arizona. Holy shit… It sounded awesome. She stayed quiet while Arizona and Addison chattered about details. Whatever it took, she didn’t care as long as they were doing it together.

They could all see Arizona’s jetlag starting to crash in on her, but she wouldn’t let consciousness go until she’d outlined a plan with her friend to give them a baby. The others were left smiling as she finally succumbed against Callie’s shoulder, breathing soft and slow.

Tim was the first to break the quiet, “Whoa.”

Callie laughed, keeping it low to avoid waking her partner. “You’re not kidding, brother. Go to Africa, come back wanting a baby. That was not what I was expecting.”

“Well, you guys will kick the ass of whatever I get Mom for Christmas this year,” he joked, pushing his hair back with one hand as he leaned forward in his seat. “So thanks for that.”

“It probably won’t happen that fast,” Addison reminded them patiently, smirking at her sleeping friend. “You really have done something to her, Callie.”

She just smiled softly, still stroking her wife’s hair. “She will be such a good mom,” she murmured. “Won’t she?”

Tim laughed, scratching his head again almost nervously. “We’ve all been telling her that for years but it took you to get her there. And your kid will have her wrapped around their little finger just like you do.” Callie grinned at him fondly. Arizona would do anything for her, she knew that, but she would do anything for Arizona and they all knew it. “How about - I mean - never mind…”

Callie cocked an eyebrow at him, knowing him well enough by now to know when he was trying to hide something. “What’s up, Tim?”

“Dr. Montgomery, you’d - for a baby there’s got to be a guy, right?” He blushed uncharacteristically when the women both smirked at him. “I know how it works,” he said before they could tease him. “I was listening to all the…talking earlier. But the donor or whatever, what’s the deal with that…?”

“We’ll have to pick one,” Callie told him, not sure why he was talking about this.

“Somebody that looks like Arizona? So the baby would look like you both?” She swallowed, nodding slowly as she started to see why he had brought it up. “Well, what about me?” he suggested hesitantly. “I mean, it would be your kid, of course. And I’m not as blonde as she is, or blue-eyed like her, but they might get the dimples or the nose, or something.” He grinned, though he was clearly nervous, and the dimples were put on display. The Robbins did have some good genes. “You wouldn’t have to tell anybody or anything. And it would be your kid. I swear to God. I just want to be Uncle Tim.”

Callie only realized that her mouth was hanging open when she closed it, swallowing hard again. “Timothy… I - you don’t have to do that.”

“I know. And if it’s not something you want to do, that’s fine,” he said. “And it sucks that I’m pretty much the closest alternative to having a mix of the two of you, but I’m happy to help if you want me to.”

She abruptly smirked at him, leaning her cheek against soft blonde hair. “You know that doesn’t mean you can sleep with me?” Callie teased, Addison laughing from her chair. “It would be clinical.”

“And that’s exactly how we’d present it to Arizona, too,” he declared immediately, not eager to get smacked by his sister.

Callie glanced between him and Addison, the redhead shrugging. “It would be simpler. And safer - on the chance that something did happen, knowing where the genes came from, we’d know the possible risk factors and a complete family history…” she offered her input. “But I’m the best, and my people are the best, and Arizona’s the best. Your baby will be in good hands long before it’s ever born, no matter how we do it.”

“And it would be your baby, Cal,” Tim repeated insistently. “I’ll sign whatever or do whatever.”

She nodded, considering. Short of Arizona being the one to get pregnant, something she was hesitant to suggest even after her wife’s change of heart about the whole thing, Tim’s offer was their best shot at having a child that would have Arizona’s features in its genes. Of course, she would love any child they had together, no matter how they came into their life or whose genetics they had. But doing it this way was enticing.

“Thank you,” Callie whispered. “I love you for offering. Well, I mean, I just love you, you know,” he grinned, “Let’s ask Arizona. She can decide.”

Tim let out a deep breath, nodding. “But you don’t mind that I offered to knock you up?” he asked, still grinning.

Abruptly, Arizona jumped, breathing hitching as she woke up. “You offered to what now?” Blue eyes blinked around the room at Addison laughing into her water glass, Tim leaning back in a hurry, and up at Callie’s wide eyes over her head. “How long was I asleep?”

“Half an hour, maybe?” Callie answered, trying to gauge how much her partner could have heard.

“And in that half hour, it became okay for my brother to sleep with my wife? Because I missed that vote,” said Arizona, voice heavy and thick with sleep. “And also, that’s not happening…”

“That’s not what we meant,” the brunette told her. “And you know it.” Full lips dragged across her forehead. “I’m not sleeping with anyone but you.”

Arizona leaned into the kiss with a sweet, sleepy smile before she withdrew to narrow blue eyes at her partner. “So why did Timmy say he was going to knock you up?”

Exchanging looks with her brother-in-law, Callie breathed deep and spilled the beans, “Because he offered to help us have a Robbins-Torres baby.”

The blonde sat up straighter quickly, looking sharply at Tim. “What?”

He ran both hands over the tops of his legs, shrugging broad shoulders. “It’s up to you, but we’ve been talking about it. It’s whatever you want, sis.”

“Whoa,” she said, leaning back against Callie, looking upside down at her. “You’re okay with this?”

“I want to have your baby, Arizona. Whatever that means,” Callie promised.

Arizona had to hold back a moan as the mental image of pregnant Callie came back to the top of her still drowsy mind. “You’re going to be so beautiful pregnant,” she sighed, craning up to kiss her jaw. Her gaze shifted back to her brother. “You would really do that for us?”

“Absolutely,” he said without hesitation.

Arizona bit her lip, not sure what to say. “And you’d be…?”

Tim answered immediately, “Uncle Tim.”

“I was always the one who didn’t want kids,” she reminded him. “You want kids, brother.” And Tim would be an amazing father. She couldn’t take that away from him.

“And maybe I’ll have some someday. This is your kid. I’ll only ever be Uncle Tim.” He grinned and it drew an answering grin from her. “It’s your kid, Arizona.”

Blue eyes turned back to Callie. “And you’re okay with this?”

She nodded, breathing deeply. “It’s your baby, Arizona,” she echoed. “Any baby I ever have is going to be yours, no matter how we get it.”

“Addison?” the blonde questioned the thus far quiet, professional side of the discussion.

“You know as well as I do, Arizona,” answered Addison with a shrug. “Knowing the donor is safer, and you’d have a little tan, dimply little bucket of cuteness,” she finished, smiling as she lost her professional edge. “You’re going to let me help, right? I’ll come here or…”

Arizona laughed. “You’re not an OB, Addie,” she reminded her friend. It was sweet really, how much her friends wanted to help them out with this. “You guys…” And they really would have the cutest children in the world. Even if they did pick a blonde donor to look like her, her partner’s Latina genes would be hard to overpower. Callie pulled her closer, smiling against her hair. “Thank you both.” She yawned, comfy and warm with Callie while still sleepy meaning that she wasn’t going to be able to stay awake for much longer. “We’ll talk… later…” 

Arizona’s head dipped against her shoulder and Callie pressed her down gently, hushing her. “Yeah, sweetheart, we’ll talk later. Go back to sleep.”

The first thing she saw as she closed her eyes was the sweetest little face, dark hair, dark eyes, olive skin and her own dimples, her face. And damn it if it wasn’t the most beautiful, most adorable, most perfect little baby she’d ever seen.


	15. Chapter 15

Fighting her way clear of Arizona’s arms in the morning remained as hard a week after her return from Africa as it had been the first day. Arizona demonstrated stubborn strength even while sleepy and dragged her back into a sudden seat on the edge of the bed. “Where are you going?” she whined, sliding over to wrap both arms around her waist and cracking one eye open toward the clock. “It’s early, Calliope.”

“Go back to sleep,” Callie coaxed her. “The alarm will wake you up in time for work.”

Arizona didn’t let her go. “So where are you going?” Going out on a Tuesday morning without her when they were both off work until later didn’t compute for her. She just stared her down with her single open eye, the other still buried in her pillow.

Sighing, Callie rolled her eyes. “Okay, you’re going to laugh…”

Arizona was instantly intrigued. She had never seen Callie squirm about telling her something like this before and it was making her very curious. “What is it?”

Before she could answer, their bedroom door opened suddenly. “Up and at ‘em, Torres! We got to go or we’re going to be late.” Tim barked, his eyes focused on the laces of the softball glove in his hands.

“Hey!” yelped Arizona in protest, jerking sheets over herself reflexively. “What happened to knocking?! And what’s with that glove?”

Tim jumped, having honestly forgotten that Arizona was home to protest him bursting into her bedroom. “Oh, oops. Sorry, sis.”

“Tim and I joined the hospital’s softball team while you were gone,” Callie explained, pulling one of Arizona’s hands up from her waist to kiss the back of it. “We’ve got practice this morning.”

Downstairs, the door opened and Mark Sloan’s voice yelled up the stairs, “Robbinses! Let’s go!”

Arizona couldn’t help her instinctive grimace. “That guy?!” she demanded incredulously. “You joined the team with that guy?!” realizing what he’d yelled in greeting, she blinked, “And did he call you Robbins?” She liked the sound of that a lot, no matter who said it.

“It’s the hospital’s team, honey,” Callie reminded her, smiling as she noticed the distracted but pleased look on her wife’s face. “And yes, he did. I think he likes pluralizing it.” And she’d happily be counted as a Robbins. Dropping a kiss on her forehead, Callie stood up. “But we’ve got to go now, so I’ll see you at work later, okay? Go back to sleep.”

Arizona was still getting used to sleeping a normal schedule (even a surgeon’s version of normal) and she nodded willingly. “Okay. Have fun, I guess.” She sat up to take another kiss on the lips. “Can I come watch you guys play a game?”

“Absolutely,” Callie agreed warmly, shaking her head as Arizona promptly flopped back into bed and snuggled back under the blankets when Callie pulled them up over her shoulders.

The Seattle Grace team had their next game the following weekend and Arizona happily took a seat in the bleachers to watch the game. Only her absence from practice had kept her from having to participate, all of her fellow surgeons (and somehow her brother - she wasn’t sure how that had happened, exactly) had been enlisted to play in the game.

Callie was playing outfield, but didn’t seem to be sticking to one side, just filling any gap in the defense that needed to be filled. Lexie Grey was some kind of pitching wizard though, making Callie’s job mostly unnecessary. So Arizona didn’t feel bad about wandering from her seat on the bleachers out toward the outfield fence, Callie defending in her direction with a grin on her face.

“Hey, you. You having fun?” the brunette asked happily, keeping one eye on the game and bouncing from side to side on her feet.

Arizona just grinned back at her. Her wife was hot as hell in her uniform. Royal blue was a good color on her. And of course, she had the sleeves of the t-shirt under her jersey rolled up to her elbows. The jersey itself was only buttoned by two buttons in the middle of her chest, the bottom on the shirt tied beneath her breasts. And her hair was braided under her cap, the hat turned around backwards on her head. “Yep. Lots of fun. You look really hot,” she declared, Callie sending her an amused smirk. “What? It’s true! I’m here to watch you and I’m having a blast, Calliope.”

Taking her hat off, Callie waved her over to the fence. “Come here.” As soon as she was in reach, Callie put the baseball cap on her wife’s head, tweaking one of her pigtails for good measure. She was married to the most adorable woman in the world. “Very cute,” she said approvingly, winking at the blonde.

Hearing the crack of a bat against ball, Callie’s attention snapped back to the game and Arizona cheered as her partner took off running and managed to catch the ball in the glove extended at the length of her arm. She quickly whipped it into a fast shot to second base for the double play, Mark Sloan tagging out the runner and ending the inning.

Callie spun to blow a kiss at Arizona, the blonde jumping excitedly and cheering on the other side of the fence while the brunette jogged backwards toward the dugout, turning when Mark slapped her butt in playful pride. She promptly shoved him back, still grinning outwardly but grimacing inside. Arizona wouldn’t love to see that. But Mark had been a friend when she’d needed one. He was just physically affectionate, which she’d warned him more than once about, but it appeared that he needed another reminder now that Arizona was home.

Risking a glance at the sideline, Arizona’s expression was hidden by the blue baseball cap. Her posture was telling though, her arms crossing her chest. Shit. “Sloan, next time you touch my ass, I’ll break your scalpel hand,” she told him as she jogged into the dugout just behind him. On the bench, Tim and Alex sat up straighter.

The Plastic surgeon was taller than either of them (even if it was close with Tim) but he still stepped back with both hands up, letting Callie cross in between him and the other two men. “My bad! No harm done! Call off your dogs!”

Rolling her eyes, Callie exchanged her glove for a beer. “Down dogs,” she said, exchanging smirks with Timothy and Karev. It really was sweet how loyal they were to Arizona. No more loyal than she was herself, though. She found another beer in the icy cooler and she slipped out the other gate of the dugout, wanting to get to the stands without cutting through the game. 

Arizona was back on the bleachers and looking adorable in her hat. She looked over when Callie flopped onto the bleacher beside her, though the smile didn’t quite meet her eyes. “Here, I got you a beer.” She offered the longneck. 

Arizona thanked her quietly, picking at the label after her first sip. “That was a good catch,” she finally said, eyes focusing on her drink.

“Arizona, I know you saw Sloan smack my butt, but we’re playing a game and he doesn’t mean anything by it, and I already told him to stop or I’ll break his hand,” Callie said, leaning over to try and catch blue eyes. “What?” she questioned when she couldn’t quite manage it. “Honey, what?”

“You guys are friends now…”

Confused, Callie nodded, her shoulders bobbing as she shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. I mean we’re work friends at least. Why?”

The blonde sighed, still picking at her beer. “It’s just all different from when I left and we barely knew him except for having seen his naked ass an unfortunate number of times…”

Blinking in realization, Callie curled an arm around her wife’s shoulders, hand pulling her head in so she could kiss the side of her face. “It was three months, babe. And Sloan’s a lot of fun if he knows he has no chance to sleep with you. He was in the bar a few times when the boys dragged me out. We drank a little, danced a few times.” She leaned closer, lowering her voice. “He’s not as much fun to dance with as you are,” she teased lightly. “And he’s just a work friend. He’s not my best friend. That’s you.” She paused to catch Arizona’s smile, Owen calling her name from the dugout for her turn in the batting order. “Or possibly Tim,” she added, standing up quickly.

Arizona still managed to catch her butt with a quick slap. “You better run!” she called after her with a laugh while Callie sent her a smoldering look over her shoulder. 

Relaxing on the bench, Arizona trained her eyes on Callie as she lined up her batting stance and lifted her bat. She really couldn’t blame anyone for noticing how stunningly gorgeous Calliope was. And she’d been away for months, Callie had her own life to live in that time. But she trusted Callie implicitly. If Callie said there was nothing to worry about with Mark Sloan, there was nothing to worry about with Mark Sloan. And if there ever had been anything to worry about with the almost startlingly good-looking Plastic surgeon, Callie would have put a stop to it before anything happened. And Tim would have beat that guy to a pulp, she reminded herself with a small smile. She had the best brother ever, watching out for her wife like that.

Callie was patient on the plate, waiting for her pitch instead of swinging at anything that flew at her. Her first swing was just a bouncing graze that skipped over the foul line yards in front of first base for her second strike. Resettling her stance, Callie took the next pitch for her second ball.

Alex was on first and he bent his knees, ready to run. “Come on, Torres! Do it!” he yelled, clapping his hands in encouragement. They were down two runs, but it was still early.

The next pitch was perfect and Callie connected, rocketing the ball over the shortstop’s head and into centerfield. She dropped her bat and took off around the bases after Alex. Thinking better of making it a double, Callie scrambled back to first base while Alex touched third.

Arizona cheered wildly for them both, standing up and clapping while Derek Shepherd went up to bat. His first swing sent the ball flying toward the outside wall, the unprepared outfielder chasing after it while the Seattle Grace crowd on the bench shouted eagerly.

Alex crossed the plate as Callie was touching second, the Chief at third as coach to wave her ahead. The ball reached the third baseman just as she tied the game. Then the ball was flying from the frustrated defender at the back of her head and the Seattle Grace bench cleared in a heartbeat, both teams confronting each other all over the field.

Letting herself onto the field, Arizona shoved her way through the ruckus in the direction of the plate where she’d last seen Callie. Tim was with her, as well as Mark Sloan, all three kneeling in the dirt while the surgeon checked the back of Callie’s head.

“Is she okay?” asked Arizona anxiously, completely ignoring the chaos that had become the rest of the softball game.

“You’re not bleeding, but you’re going to have a knot,” he assessed. “They really beaned you there, Torres.”

Callie groaned, rubbing the back of her head gingerly. “I can feel it,” she agreed, hissing as she unintentionally put too much pressure on her injury.

Mark shifted in front of her, holding one finger up. “How many?’

“One,” she answered with another groan, holding her hand out. “Let me up.” Tim and Mark got her back on her feet, Callie grimacing sheepishly when she noticed Arizona standing there. “Oh, hey…” she said dumbly.

“Hey,” Arizona echoed her incredulously. “Are you okay? Headache? Lightheaded? Nauseous?” Ignoring the men, she got closer, watching Callie’s eyes as she rattled off her list.

The questioning made Callie laugh. “There are too many doctors here. And it just happened, babe. It mostly just aches.” One hand reached out to her, drawing the blonde under her arm. “I guess that’s the game, maybe?” she suggested with a laugh.

“It is for you,” confirmed Arizona. “You should sit down.”

Chief Webber jogged up to check on her, informing the two men that the game would continue. But he agreed with Arizona that Callie needed to sit out a few innings at the least, nodding the women into the dugout. Taking her seat and her beer back, Callie didn’t want to admit that it was a relief to sit down. Her head was throbbing.

It was cute watching Arizona jump and cheer for their team, though. It was so good to have her home. When she came back to the bench to sit down, she gave Callie a smile. “How’s your head?”

“I’m fine,” she answered, returning the smile. “You know, you told me that you don’t like watching sports. But you seem like you’re having a pretty good time.”

“I am,” Arizona agreed, stealing a sip from her wife’s beer, her own abandoned on the bleachers. “I’m sorry you got knocked in the head.” She looped an arm through Callie’s and laced their fingers. “But you look really hot in that uniform. And all the running around and getting sweaty… I may have spoken too soon about sports,” she declared.

Arching an eyebrow and smirking, Callie laughed. “You know, we could always use more players. You could play right field,” Arizona made a face, “Out near me.” Her expression went more eager immediately.

“We’ll see,” she hedged. “I’m really, very terrible at softball.” She jumped back up to cheer as Tim went up to bat, dragging Callie to the fence with her. They both screamed as he smacked it right out of the park, pausing to point to Callie before he and Derek jogged the bases slowly, deliberately taking their time to annoy the other team.

Laughing, Callie returned to the bench. She was grateful for the revenge homeruns, but the cheering hadn’t helped her headache. She had a feeling Arizona might object to her washing down aspirin with beer though, and she rooted through the cooler for a bottle of water.

“You guys are close,” observed Arizona as she took her seat beside her. That was new too. Not that they hadn’t always been friendly. But this was something else that had changed while she was gone.

Callie nodded, slinging an arm around her partner’s shoulders. “Yeah, we are. Tim’s the best brother in the world, you know? And we both missed you like crazy.” Arizona looked over to give her an almost shy smile. “We bonded. And he made sure I wasn’t moping around like a pathetic loser all the time.”

“Calliope…”

She leaned in to kiss her quickly, cutting her off. “Arizona, I know a lot of stuff has changed from before you left. And I can tell that it’s bugging you,” the blonde sighed, “The softball, and hanging out with Mark, being friends with Tim… But there’s a few things that aren’t ever going to change. You’re the person I tell everything to, Arizona. You’re the only person I want to know everything. And you’re the person I love more than anything in the world. Okay?”

Feeling comforted, Arizona leaned her head over onto Callie’s shoulder. “I don’t know why I’m being such a freak. I think it all just kind of hit me, how much I missed being away for so long.”

“Well, I missed a lot too,” Callie reminded her. “I mean, you were in Africa!”

“Yeah, but I told you all about it.”

“Do you think there’s something I haven’t told you? I was missing you, I worked all the time, occasionally the boys would drag me out for a night at the bar, Joe loves you and gave us the first round free every time, Tim and I play softball,” she ran down the list. “It’s pathetic to admit, but that’s what I’ve been doing the last three months.”

Arizona picked up her wife’s hand, playing with her fingers idly. “I guess I just wish I hadn’t had to miss it.”

Callie scoffed lightly, smiling to herself. “You didn’t miss much, babe. I promise. You’ve been home two weeks and it’s already gotten more interesting.”

“Yeah?” asked Arizona curiously, perking up.

“Well, yeah! I mean, we’re working cases together again, and finally having regular sex again, eating lunch together… But Joe loves you, so we’re still getting free drinks, so that’s good,” she mused, lightly teasing, and kissed the top of her head as she curled her in closer.

Arizona smiled into Callie’s shoulder. She had an idea that would make their lives even more interesting. “As interesting as lunch is, I think I can shake things up a little bit more,” she proposed.

Callie just grinned. “I notice you didn’t comment on the regular sex…”

“Because that’s actually an exciting change!” Arizona countered with a laugh.

“Okay, then what’s your idea to turn our life upside down?”

“Let’s have a baby,” the blonde said simply. “Let’s not wait, because we’re surgeons and there’s never going to be a great time. We want this. Let’s do it.” Callie’s stupefied silence was quickly drowned out by cheers from the game they were no longer watching.


	16. Interlude - Dreams Don't Turn to Dust

“Can we go to Disney Land?!” Callie couldn’t help laughing at the excitement in her partner’s voice. She was married to the perfect woman. There was no doubt about it.

“I don’t think Addison lives near Disney, babe,” she reminded her, sneaking a glance at the dazzling smile leaving deep dimples in Arizona’s cheeks.

The blonde just scoffed, practically skipping down the sidewalk toward the taxi stand, their luggage rolling and bouncing along behind her. “I didn’t mean this time, Calliope. We should go to Disney Land! It would be fun!” She sent her a look over her shoulder and her smile went sweeter, softer somehow. “We could take the kids.”

Callie knew it was coming before it happened, her heart skipping a beat the same way it did every time Arizona mentioned children. She hadn’t pushed, hadn’t even mentioned it since Arizona’s startling announcement that not only was she open to the possibility, she didn’t want to wait to do it either. Callie believed her when she said it, but still wanted to give her every chance to change her mind. Because she wouldn’t lose her wife, not for anything. There could be no regrets here. So she was going to let Arizona set the pace of whatever came next.

The simple possibility set her on fire though, and it hadn’t escaped her notice that they were in California to visit Addison on their first paired days off in weeks. Arizona claimed they were just taking a chance to be out of Seattle, taking Addison up on her offer of a place to stay when they visited at the same time. But Addison’s work at a fertility clinic hadn’t been far from her mind since they’d boarded their flight this morning.

“Alright,” Callie agreed softly. “Next time we’re in California, we’ll go to Disney Land, okay?” Arizona took a sweet kiss and Callie couldn’t resist slipping an arm around her. “It will be fun.” Kids or no kids, she had no doubt that Arizona at a theme park would be a treat in itself to experience.

The taxi pulled up to the curb and Arizona slipped out of her grasp to get the door for her, bobbing her eyebrows playfully as Callie rolled her eyes. “What? I would hold the door for you in Seattle,” the blonde reasoned, grinning happily at her wife.

“Why does it feel like you’re buttering me up for something?” Callie questioned, teasing her lightly.

Arizona laughed as she slid into the car behind her, their driver putting their suitcase in the trunk for them. “Oh, Calliope, I would be happy to butter you up,” she promised, enjoying the bright blush that spread across Callie’s cheeks. “Or flavored body paint, maybe…” she kept going, Callie quickly covering her mouth with one hand as the driver returned to his seat.

Blue eyes just twinkled at her over her hand and Callie could feel her heart swell. She was in love with the most amazing woman in the world. Her touch slipped down Arizona’s jaw and down the line of her neck, finding the top of her shirt and pulling her into another soft, slow kiss. “I’m in love with you,” she whispered as they pulled apart, their driver clearing his throat lightly.

“I love you too.” Arizona gave him an unselfconscious smile in the mirror and Addison’s address before leaning back into her seat and buckling her seatbelt. Callie went to her own seat but put a hand on her leg, rubbing her knee absently as she watched the traffic through the window.

Addison had left a key hidden for them and they let themselves in, Callie looking around while Arizona hauled their bag in. “Wow, this is nice. You were right, babe.” She laughed. “And it’s so quiet!” Their own house was never quiet.

Frowning, Arizona watched her quietly for a moment. Callie had never commented on their living arrangements, but the way she’d lived as a single woman had been established long before she’d ever met Callie and her lover had just kind of made a place for herself in her house the same way she’d taken up residency in her life. And she’d loved living with Alex, and Tim when he’d come to Seattle, but she was married to Callie. And if Callie wasn’t happy… “Calliope, do you like living together?”

It was an inane, insane question and the brunette sent her a look over her shoulder. “Of course I do! And we’re sure as hell not living apart,” she declared resolutely, laughing. After three months apart, the last thing she needed was space from her wife. She didn’t care where they lived or how many people kept jamming themselves into their house as long as Arizona was the one she had her arms wrapped around at night.

“Not living together with me!” Arizona corrected herself hastily. “You’re stuck with me on that, Calliope! I meant living together, us and the boys. I mean, Tim’s barely home anymore since he got back on his feet and uses his mobility to screw Teddy, but then I was gone and I know he was around more with you. And Alex has just always kind of been there, but then you were there and you moved in and he’s still there, but we’re married and it’s your house too, Calliope, and if you’re not okay with anything, if you’re not happy…”

Callie’s brows were furrowed as she turned to face her, confusion in every feature of her face. “Arizona, I have never been so happy in my life as I am now, with you. And, yeah, it’s unconventional, but the guys are family. If you want them there, they can stay.”

“It’s like a frat house, though!” Arizona countered. “And I love them, you know I do, but I’m married to you. It’s you I want to come home to, not my brother and my fellowship student!” Gathering steam, she continued, “And do you realize that we’ve been together for years, and we’ve been married for eight months and we’ve never lived alone together?” she questioned, starting to talk more quickly unconsciously. “Alex has always been there, and then Tim was there, and he needed your help and he needed a place to stay, so of course we’re going to help him, but Calliope, I want to live with just you! I want to be able to come home and know that you’re the only one waiting on me. And maybe it’s selfish, but I don’t want to share you! Any part of you, even the cooking parts, I just want them to be for me! And when we have a baby, we’ll have a baby, and you’re going to be the best mother in the world, and I want that, really, I do, but until I’m sharing you with our baby, I don’t want to share you!”

Wide brown eyes were the first sign that she’d kind of gone off, and Arizona’s mouth dropped open again. “No, wait,” Callie interjected gently, moving toward her. She found Arizona’s hands without looking away from her face. “You said your bit. I get to talk now. Honey, you’re my wife. And no matter what, for the rest of our life, wherever you are, I will be there,” she promised, squeezing her fingers lightly. Arizona’s breath escaped in a puff and she smiled shyly, Callie’s loving smile reassuring. No matter how crazy she got, Callie loved her. “And I understand why the boys live with us, and I’ve never felt like a guest at the house expect for maybe that first night I came over after work and was so exhausted and we almost fell asleep on the couch. You remember?”

She did remember. “You slept in my bed that night.”

“I did,” Callie confirmed, still smiling. “That bed’s ours now. And that house is our home. And if you want it to be just for us, we’ll talk to the guys, okay? But they don’t have to go because you think I’m unhappy with the way things are. That’s not true. I love our life, Arizona. But Tim’s our brother, he’s not going anywhere, and Alex might be actually homeless, living on the street, if he didn’t know you, so I doubt he’ll go far,” she teased lightly, loving the answering smile she got from Arizona. She lived to make her smile like that. “But I don’t hate the idea of living alone with you. Living alone with you would be… awesome,” she decided, choosing the word very deliberately.

“So you want to give it a try, maybe?” Arizona checked hopefully. “Living together… alone?”

Callie hooked both arms around her hips, pulling the blonde firmly against her body. “Yes,” she said slowly. “I would love to live alone with you, Arizona. We’ll talk to the boys when we get home, alright?” Arizona rose up on her toes to kiss her instead of answering, her fingers sliding through dark hair. “You kind of really went off there,” Callie noted between slow kisses, chuckling against her mouth. “Got anything else you want to get off your chest, sweetheart?”

They were both surprised by the next words out of Arizona’s mouth. “I don’t want you to have a baby with Tim.”

Slowly letting her go, Callie took a half step back from her, needing to see her wife’s eyes. “What? I would never… He’s my brother too, Arizona.”

“I know that,” the blonde gasped, disbelieving herself that she’d actually said it. “I know you would never, and he would never, and nothing would ever… It’s not that. I just meant, I know that we can’t make a baby, but he offered, and it’s just such a Tim thing to do, and he’d do anything for us, I know that, but I can’t raise his baby. It’s not fair to him, and it’s not fair when I know it’s always going to be you and some guy’s baby…”

“Hey!” Callie barked sharply to cut her off, hands holding her face suddenly so that their eyes locked. “You don’t ever say that again,” she ordered, voice deadly serious. “Arizona, we will do this however you want, but no matter what, any baby that I ever have is yours. And I won’t let you or anyone else say any different, do you understand me?” It took her a second, but Arizona nodded meekly. “And if you don’t want to use Tim as the donor, then we won’t use Tim. It’s that simple, okay? You just tell me what you want and we’ll do it.”

Arizona didn’t say anything for another moment, Callie’s little nod prompting her to speak, “I want our baby, Calliope. And I wish I could give you our baby, because I can see their little face in my head when I’m asleep, or even at work sometimes, I see their face and I want them to be real. And no matter how we get them, they’re going to be perfect. Because they’re going to have you and me.”

Callie blinked and there were tears clouding her vision. Arizona Robbins was perfect. And them together, they made each other better. And Arizona would love their baby, already cared so much. “So we won’t use Tim. I can still have a Robbins baby though.” Arizona’s realization was beautiful as it dawned on her face, mouth dropping open again. “I just want your baby, Arizona,” Callie promised in a whisper. “If you want a donor and me, we’ll do that. If you want a donor and you, I’m over the moon for that too. If you don’t want any donors, we can adopt. Anything you want, we will do it. As long as we’re doing it together, I will do anything for you.”

“I’m really saying a lot of stuff today, aren’t I?” Arizona breathed in realization, Callie’s hands on her shoulders sliding down her arms and rubbing lightly. “Whew,” she sighed. “Calliope…”

“Let’s just talk it through,” Callie coaxed gently, taking her hand and leading her toward Addison’s soft leather couch. She took a seat at one end and Arizona curled up on the other end, sitting with her back against the armrest so she could face Callie fully. There was space between them but Callie knew that was how Arizona coped with things. It might take her a minute or two, but she’d relax once they started talking. Until then it was better to let her withdraw just a little. “You said you don’t want to use Tim because it’s not fair to him. What did you mean by that?” Callie prompted.

The blonde sighed deeply, her knees drawn up to her chest. “It’s just not fair. Because he’s going to be a great dad someday. And I can’t take that away from him. And I know he wants to help us,” Callie nodded when she paused, “but it’s not fair to ask him to be the cool uncle when he’s got such a big heart. I can’t watch it break every time our baby falls and gets hurt and runs to me instead of to him. He’s done everything for me and I know he’d do more, but I can’t ask for that from him. I can’t take being the father away from him. Does that make sense?”

“Of course it does, sweetheart. And I understand. Tim will be an amazing father someday,” Callie agreed, smiling sweetly. “And our kids will be almost as lucky as his will. Ours will have Uncle Tim, but his will have Aunt Arizona.”

The blonde laughed, smile coming more naturally. “And Aunt Calliope.”

“Aunt Callie is fine,” Callie corrected her lightly. “I kind of like that you’re the only one who calls me that.” Arizona’s knees relaxed and one foot slid forward, just a few inches closer to Callie’s legs.

“Ooh, Tia Callie, then?” Arizona suggested, a genuine laugh following her attempt at a Spanish pronunciation.

Callie confirmed, “Exactly.” She nudged the blonde’s foot with one hand. “And I hate to break it to you, babe, but I’m totally going to be their favorite aunt.”

“Oh, yeah right, Calliope!” countered Arizona, foot shooting out to poke Callie’s thigh, the Latina catching it and pulling her foot into her lap. “I’m so going to be the favorite!” The other leg tucked itself under her now extended left leg, Arizona’s posture starting to relax so gradually she didn’t even realize it.

Callie just smiled. “Okay, so that’s decided,” she said, gently steering them back to the topic. She traced the blonde’s features with her eyes, searching for something. “You’re not comfortable with any of this yet,” she stated softly, shaking her head. “That’s okay. I’m not really, either. But no matter how we do this, any baby that is here,” she trailed one hand across her middle, “it is yours. Do you understand me?” Arizona nodded, knowing better than to argue that point. “Would it make it easier if it was yours genetically?”

“Calliope, I can’t ask…”

“You’re not asking me for anything I won’t do for you,” Callie cut her off, her voice soft. “You can’t ask me for something I won’t do for you because there’s nothing that qualifies. I will do anything for you, Arizona. And if using part of you to make our baby will help you, then that’s what we’ll do,” she declared. She smile grew slowly. “I would love that, actually. There needs to be more of Arizona Robbins in the world.”

Arizona didn’t speak for a long moment and Callie started to feel nervous, like she’d overstepped some boundary. Arizona had been nothing but full speed ahead since she’d made her change of heart decision, but maybe suggesting that they use her eggs to make a baby was too much? Maybe this was all too much? Was this the moment that she’d been dreading and anticipating? Had Arizona retreated back behind the line again? Was their child fated to exist only in the imagination?

“Come here,” whispered Arizona, breaking the quiet that had fallen over them. Callie complied without speaking, crawling forward and letting Arizona wrap her arms around her. “I am so in love with you,” she said, her voice still soft and quiet. 

Callie’s answering smile stole her breath from her chest. “Good, because I want to have your baby.” Reassured now, she half expected Arizona to push her up from the couch and rush them back out the door and to Addison’s clinic. Instead she just gathered her closer, sighing softly when Callie rested her head gently against her shoulder. “Am I smooshing you?”

“You’re perfect,” Arizona denied immediately, stroking her hair and letting her eyes close. She could stay like this forever. “Stay,” she whispered.

Breathing deep, Callie settled more comfortably against her side. “You’ve been really eager about all this,” she observed, slipping one hand under the edge of Arizona’s top to stroke her skin softly.

“And you’ve been kind of skittish,” countered Arizona. “What’s up with that? If you don’t want…”

“Stop it,” Callie cut her off, pinching her side for good measure. “I want a baby with you. I just never expected you to come around, you know? And I would never push you - not ever and not about something so important. And I want a life with you more than anything else. So I put wanting a kid out of my mind a long time ago. Because it wasn’t what you wanted. And I want you.”

“So you’re waiting for me to change my mind back?” Arizona interpreted, combing her fingers through dark hair.

“But you’ve been so…hyper about it.”

Arizona smiled against her hair. “Yeah, I guess I have. Because I’m not going to change my mind. And I was raised by the Colonel. He taught us to fight for what we want. And when I want something, I don’t quit.”

Callie chuckled. “I know that’s true.” Burrowing her face into the blonde’s neck, she nuzzled her nose against the skin.

“So I’m not quitting on this. But if you want to wait…”

“I want your baby,” countered Callie, kissing her neck lightly. “Now, or next year, or in five years…”

And she expected Arizona to bombard poor Addison as soon as she came through the door, but she didn’t, just sat up and stretched, giving her a peaceful, drowsy smile that made Callie burn to kiss her. So she did, soft and slow, pulling away only when Addison cleared her throat from the doorway.

“Hey Addie,” Arizona spoke up, grinning at her friend. “Thanks for letting us stay this weekend.”

The redhead glanced around her living room, apparently searching for something. “Yeah, sure… You didn’t have sex on my couch, did you?” she blurted, blushing.

Arizona laughed out loud, looking sideways at Callie. “Because you’ve never had sex in our house?” she countered. “It would serve you right if we had, but we didn’t.”

“Well, how about dinner? Have you eaten yet? My treat!” The Neonatal surgeon was bright red, shifting her weight uncomfortably between her feet.

“That would be great, Addison. Thank you,” Callie cut in before Arizona could tease her friend further.

Standing up, Arizona took Callie’s hand and patted her friend’s shoulder as they passed her on the way to the door. “The thing about us not having sex in your house?” she said over her shoulder, Callie already closing her eyes in anticipation of the rest. “That won’t be true after tonight,” Arizona warned Addison cheerfully, whooping when Callie slapped her ass in rebuke. “Fuel for the fire, baby!”

Addison was still blushing as she turned to follow them out. “You’ve created a monster, Callie.”


	17. Chapter 17

Callie was just finishing up a CT on a patient when her grinning, clearly overeager wife appeared in the doorway of the imaging chamber. She smiled knowingly at her monitor, not looking sideways at Arizona. “Did you borrow something from the lab, Dr. Robbins?”

“Yes, Calliope, I did,” she answered cheerfully. Plan in place and decisions made, it had been four months since they’d begun the process of knocking Callie up. The first three had passed uneventfully, the women attempting to keep themselves from stressing out about it by not even checking a pregnancy test until Callie showed some symptom of pregnancy. So the first three months they hadn’t even stolen a test from the clinic (though Arizona had come closer than she wanted to admit a few times, giving up each time when she couldn’t figure out a way to make Callie use the test without her knowledge), but now, after two days of Callie being woken up by nausea, they’d decided to run a blood test.

They were supposed to look at the results together, though. Which is why Arizona was trailing Callie’s case and clinging to the manila envelope she’d gotten from the lab.

“Were they even supposed to give you that?” Callie asked teasingly. “You’re not my doctor…”

“No, I am not! I’m better!” Arizona declared. “I’m your wife! And I’m not letting some idiot lab tech keep your test results away from me!”

“You forged my signature, didn’t you?” asked Callie knowingly, chuckling. “He’s clear,” she said of her patient. “Get him up to a room and get a resident in to put a cast on the entire leg,” she ordered. This guy was in for a long recovery, but he would be fine and she had something more important to do right now.

Arizona was hopping on her toes. “Yes! I could be ‘Dr. Torres’ if we’d taken each other’s names after the wedding!” she rationalized. “Are you going to report me? Or can we go look at this?!”

Callie grinned and Arizona leaned into the wall, overdramatically swooning. She loved that smile. “Let’s do it,” said Callie, offering her hand as she stood up from the monitors and letting Arizona pull her along into the locker room. “We’re going to find out if we’re having a baby in the locker room?”

Arizona huffed, impatient and frustrated with waiting. “Calliope!” she whined, catching her wife’s smirk and resisting an impulse to stomp her foot.

Abruptly, Callie’s pager rang a 911, Arizona’s echoing it a second later. “Locker room now, or wait until we get home?” Callie stated their options quickly, reading the display of her pager. “Big trauma. I’ve got to go out to the scene.”

Frowning, the blonde considered. “I want to know,” she decided.

“Even if potentially we don’t have time to celebrate?” Callie reminded her, willing to do it however Arizona wanted to.

“Yes.” Arizona decisively slid a finger under the seal, Callie behind her shoulder to read with her. “You ready?” Callie laced her fingers through Arizona’s free hand, other hand reaching over her to pull the sheet up to reveal the results they needed.

Staring at the raised hormone level Arizona couldn’t speak, just listened to her heartbeat pounding in her ears. “Oh my God,” Callie whispered, turning her face into her wife’s neck and kissing the first skin she found. “I love you, Arizona.” Another kiss, her lips dragging against her ear. “I’m having your baby,” she whispered, wrapping their joined hands around the blonde’s waist.

Arizona’s free hand was trembling as she reached back in between them to touch Callie’s stomach where her child was growing every minute. “Oh my God,” she echoed breathlessly.

Callie couldn’t stop kissing her neck, her cheek, her ear - short, quick pecks against any skin she could find. “Are you okay? You happy?” she checked, sheer will keeping her voice steady. Arizona had been nothing but eager and supportive since they’d started this, but she still had thirty years of history of not wanting children. Callie couldn’t help being nervous. This was her dream come true, everything she’d ever wanted, but wanting this was new for Arizona. And she hoped not too terrifying.

The question drew Arizona around in her arms, hand finding its place on Callie’s abdomen again, feeling something almost primal and protective. This was where her child was living. And this was her woman. “Calliope, I am so, so happy,” Arizona breathed, rising on her toes to kiss her slowly. She didn’t know what would have been worse - not to know all day, or now that they knew, having no time to celebrate. Because she wanted to strip off Callie’s clothes and cover her entire body in kisses. But they had to work. There would be no naked time for at least a few hours.

Callie’s pager chimed again and they drew back reluctantly, Arizona keeping her hand in its new favorite place covering their child. “I gotta go, babe.”

Arizona just whined in protest. “I love you,” she said, swallowing hard. “Come back quick, okay? I want to go home and get you naked,” she said candidly.

Swallowing hard, Callie nodded. “Deal,” she hoarsely ground out as her hand joined Arizona’s on her belly. She couldn’t drag herself away just yet. “Kiss me again.”

Arizona obeyed without a second of hesitation, capturing her wife’s lips firmly, their tongues languidly dueling. Another beep from Callie’s hip broke them up, both breathless. “Love you,” Arizona said again. “Love you so much, Calliope.”

Her name from Arizona’s lips sent a quiver through her. “Me too.”

Another quick kiss. “Go. Go or I’m not going to let you.”

Callie laughed and retreated from the locker room, brushing her own hand across her stomach while she jogged toward the elevators. Owen was waiting for her at the ER doors, handing a trauma kit off to her and a hard case she knew contained various blades for amputation. “A road collapsed. You’ve been requested for an onsite amputation at the sinkhole,” he informed her, giving her a hand up into the back crowded with residents and supplies, and scrambling into the ambulance behind her. “We’ll get details at the scene.”

The sinkhole was chaos, the ambulance emptying as soon as the doors were opened. An emergency tech waved them over, calling Callie’s name. “Dr. Torres and Dr. Hunt from Seattle Grace,” she confirmed, leading Owen in that direction. “What’ve we got?”

“A car fell into the hole and pinned a woman,” she said, gesturing to the monitors that were already set up under the tent, the camera suspended over the stuck woman and her clearly terrified husband. “He could come out, but he won’t leave her down there alone.”

Callie could understand that. She wouldn’t leave Arizona in some hole pinned under a car. “Okay, get me down there,” she said, shrugging the strap of her bag across her chest and reaching for her case from Owen.

“Oh, Dr. Torres, no,” their guide said uncertainly. “It’s unstable.”

She blinked at her, exchanging looks with Owen. “So what do you want me to do? I’m supposed to do an amputation.”

“You need to talk him through it,” she said, looking at the monitors again. The trapped man was shouting for help.

Callie shook her head in instant denial. “No. He cannot do this. You can’t ask him to cut off his wife’s leg. Do whatever it takes to get me down there and bring him up. Owen, you got him?”

“Torres, are you sure about this?”

“I’m Ortho, you’re Trauma,” she reminded him, waving over someone who could get her into a harness and lines. “He’s in shock and she needs her leg cut off. We know our jobs, Dr. Hunt.” She smiled reassuringly. “It’ll be okay, Owen.”

He nodded, brows furrowed. “Be careful down there,” he said gruffly. “If anything happens, you get her out of there,” he ordered the man who was securing Callie into the carabineers. His military history was clear in his voice. Owen Hunt was not a man to be disobeyed.

“Yes sir.”

Lowering into the hole, Callie could hear Owen’s reassurance in her ear through the headset they’d given her, the scared man below her quieting down to whimpers and whispers to his wife. “Hey, it’s okay. We’re going to get you out of here,” she offered, touching down lightly and quickly unloading her gear.

“She’s going to lose her leg, isn’t she? The lady up there said -”

“She’s going to keep her life,” Callie answered diplomatically. “But we’ve got to get you both out of here.”

He brushed hair back from his unconscious wife’s face, clearly distraught. Callie didn’t even want to imagine what he was feeling. “We were fighting,” he confessed. And no matter that the road collapse had been a fluke disaster, he was bound to be blaming himself that his wife was now trapped under a car.

“Sir, I’m here to help, but we’ve got to get you up out of this hole. Dr. Hunt is going to take care of you,” Callie said, helping the unresisting man to his feet, fastening his harness into the lines like they had showed her on the surface. “He’s coming up. Owen, it’s yours,” she said into the headset, leaning her head back to look up as he was pulled up toward the surface.

“Callie, you need to hurry,” Hunt’s voice came back in her ear, broken up by static. “They’re not sure how much longer it’s going to hold.”

She set to work, struggling to balance speed and minimizing infection. It was a delicate dance in the depths of the pit. Too much exposure would kill this woman no matter what Callie could do. But too much time and neither one of them would get out. Getting the leg free, she got her patient onto the backboard and strapped her in, following the directions in her ears to get the gurney ready to hoist.

The injured woman was lifted out of the hole on the last set of cables, Callie collecting her gear while she waited for her own lift to come down. The sudden rumble was echoed on her headset before the line went dead. The car dropped onto its nose and slid sideways, crashing onto its driver’s side as the earth shifted under it. The noise was overwhelming, tearing metal and crashing rock, a rush of water coming from somewhere to soak her shoes, the level steadying at her ankles. Callie kept her feet somehow, hanging onto the rock wall, but the light from above her was cut off abruptly.

When it seemed stable and still again she knelt in the dark, putting her case down in the shallow water to search for the flashlight she knew was packed in there. Before she found it she found the sharp edge of one of her cutting blades, hissing as it sliced into her palm. Shit. That was almost the last thing she needed.

The realization hit her suddenly, making her heart freeze and her blood run cold. She wasn’t alone down here. She was carrying another person inside her body. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

And Arizona. She surely knew about the sinkhole by now. Was probably wrist-deep inside an injured child, saving a life. But Arizona was going to notice sooner rather than later that she hadn’t returned from the scene yet. Or she’d hear about the doctor from Seattle Grace that had been buried in the hole, possibly see her picture on the news in the lobby or the waiting room while she went to inform anxious parents about their child’s outcome.

But she wouldn’t know what was happening with her own wife, her own child. God damn it, she had to get out of this hole. And now.

Finding the light, she snapped it on, searching her surroundings for a moment. The camera they’d been using to monitor the trapped patients was pinned by the wires between two rocks but appeared intact. She had no way of knowing if they could see her, though. Just in case, she waved the light back and forth across the lens. They’d never spot her in the dark, but hopefully they could see the light.

Tucking the flashlight under her chin, she searched one handed through her bag for gauze. She taped the pad into place on her hand after making sure it was relatively clear of debris. It was probably going to need a stitch or two though. And Arizona was going to kill her. Shit.

Sure it was futile, she dug her phone out of her pocket. No service under the ground, of course. She tucked it back in her pocket and searched more meticulously with the flashlight for anything that might help her. She left the medical bags wedged on a rock to walk the perimeter of her underground prison. The car was a solid barrier on one side, rock on the other, but the water level wasn’t rising, which she hoped was a good sign. She might suffocate, but that would take hours, maybe days, and she wouldn’t drown in the meantime.

Curious, Callie clicked the flashlight off, trying to see if there was any ambient light. It took her eyes a few long moments to adjust but there was some dim light near a crack in the collapsed ceiling. The flashlight revealed the underside of roadway asphalt. Unable to think of anything else to do, she shuffled cautiously in that direction, stumbling on debris she couldn’t see under the water. Climbing as high as she could, she fumbled her phone out first, groaning when she still had no signal. The rock scraped against her forehead as she slumped into it, catching her breath and trying to fight off despair. She’d found out she was pregnant today. And she hadn’t even gotten to celebrate it properly. It was so unbelievably not fair.

The crackle of static from the headset in her ear made her heart rate triple, Callie picking up her head as she heard the broken voice of Owen. “Hunt! Hunt, can you hear me?!” she called back, wrapping her injured arm around the nearest rock to flash the light at the camera again.

“I see you, Callie,” came through in bursts. “We’re coming. Are you hurt? Can you move?”

“Nothing serious, I can move,” she said, heart clenching as she remembered the reality again. “Wait, Owen…” She wasn’t seriously hurt, but that could change in a heartbeat. And she wasn’t looking out for just herself. “I’m, uh, I - I’m pregnant,” she said, choking up. Even when she and Arizona had looked at the test results, neither one of them had said the word. She was pregnant. Holy shit.

There was a fresh burst of static in her ear. “You’re wha-? Say again, Torres…”

“Pregnant,” she repeated herself. “I’m pregnant.”

“We’re coming for you,” he said after a moment of silent consideration, voice firm and steady. “Does Robbins - does she know?”

Callie sighed, almost tempted to roll her eyes. “Of course. We just found out today.”

Owen echoed her sigh. “So if I just got off the phone with her…?”

Hearing the rocks above her shift, Callie ducked and squeezed both eyes closed. Oh no. Owen had told her wife that she was in a hole, but not that he knew she was alive in the hole. Damn it. She knew he meant well, but that wasn’t the best thing Arizona could have heard at the moment. Her imagination would be killing her with possibilities, each one worse than the one before. “Call her back,” she pleaded hoarsely, her words drowned out by static as the rescue team moved more rock directly above her. “Owen, call her back. Tell her I’m alive. We’re okay.”

There was no more contact from the surface and it took another six hours before they reached her level, the Search and Rescue team clearing just enough of the ceiling to free her and bring them back out, the passage to the surface a tight tunnel. Reaching the top, she was more scraped and cut by the journey up than she had been by the initial collapse. Sweating, dirty, and exhausted, her tired eyes searched for familiar faces under the spotlights set along the edge of the hole as night fell. It was drizzling and the cool rain felt amazing on her hot skin.

Owen reached her first, wrapping her up in a blanket that she gently pushed away. “We’ve got to check you out,” he reminded her.

She gamely climbed unsteadily into the back of an ambulance. “Fine. Do it on the way to Arizona. Did you talk to her? Did you tell her I’m okay?”

“I tried but she had to go back in on a surgery… The hospital has been swamped.”

“Did other people get trapped besides me?” she asked with a concerned frown. She couldn’t stay at the scene and help, though. She was too drained to cut on anyone else, too exhausted, and too scared to death imagining what Arizona was going through.

Owen grimaced. “A few more casualties, yeah.”

Brown eyes blinked at him. “Did anyone else make it up after it collapsed again?”

His hands were steady as he carefully peeled the filthy blackened bandage from her hand. “No. Just you.” 

“What about the woman? Is she?”

“She’s at the hospital. She’s in rough shape, but she’s hanging in there.” They were both quiet for a long moment and she swallowed hard, fighting the urge to cry. “This is going to need stitches.”

“I figured,” she said hoarsely. “I sliced it on a saw blade in the dark when I looked for the flashlight.”

“Good work flashing the camera like that,” Owen gruffly complemented her. “That’s how we knew you weren’t crushed.”

Callie pushed his hands back gently. She was most likely in shock, but her hand didn’t hurt yet. She knew it would. “Would you page Arizona, please, Owen? And OB?”

“And Plastics to make sure there’s no nerve damage in that hand,” he added aloud to the list, already sliding his phone from his pocket to make the necessary calls.


	18. Chapter 18

Arizona ran up just as the ambulance tore into the bay, Callie catching a flash of her pale, tear-streaked face through the window in the door. Anxious to show her that she was okay, Callie attempted to scramble out as soon as the bus stopped, but Owen got there first, offering her a hand down. Fresh tears were already steaming down Arizona’s face, her shoulders jerking as she sobbed. It was obvious that she’d been crying for a while. Pained blue eyes drank her in. “Calliope…”

Holding both arms open, Callie took two quick steps toward her, Arizona throwing herself at her. “I’m here, it’s okay,” she breathed into her hair, wrapping both arms protectively around her while she felt Arizona’s fingers gripping the back of her dirty scrubs hard and tight. “I love you, baby.”

Arizona jerked back like she’d been stung, looking up into her face, her own expression haunted. “The baby?”

Callie shook her head slowly. “I don’t know. I asked Owen to page OB, but it’s still early. We might just have to wait…” Arizona whimpered in protest but she knew Callie was right. Right now their baby wasn’t visible as anything more than a speck on the ultrasound. There was no way to know if Callie’s trauma had made something go wrong. “I wasn’t hurt, though,” Callie offered hesitantly. If she lost their baby, she didn’t know what she was going to do.

Owen rested a light hand on her back. “We need to get you checked out. Sloan is waiting to check your hand and the OB on call is on her way,” he said gently, keeping his voice low.

Turning to look at him, Callie nodded. “Thank you. For everything,” she said sincerely. “I’m sure there’s patients around here that need you more now.”

Arizona caught his sleeve, blinking teary eyes at him. “Thank you, Owen. Thank you for bringing her back to me.”

The redhead nodded seriously, giving them both a look. “Just let me know if there’s anything else you need.”

Arizona took over then, guiding Callie’s arm around her shoulder and escorting her inside where Mark Sloan was waiting at one of the beds along the wall. “You alright, Torres?” he asked, concerned. Apparently everyone had already heard what had happened judging by the looks the rest of the ER staff was sending their way.

Mark pulled the curtain around the bed while Arizona helped Callie sit, her paranoia and fear driving her toward protective over-caution. “The cut’s the worst of it,” she answered him, hoping to reassure her wife. “Just tell me I didn’t slice any nerves.”

He took a seat on the stool beside her, gently taking her hand and studying the slash. It clearly wasn’t made by a rock. “How’d this happen?” He cleaned the wound carefully before he prepped for stitches. It was a simple cut, an intern could get good practice, but she was his friend so he sat down to do them himself.

“One of my bone saw blades got me when it went dark,” explained Callie simply, not wanting to scare her partner any more than she already was.

“Well, it’s deep, but can you make a fist for me?” She complied, wincing as it pulled her cut palm. “And touch each finger to your thumb?” She did it easily and he nodded. “I’ll stitch it up and we’ll dose you with some serious antibiotics, but you should be fine.”

“I’ll write the scrip,” Arizona said quickly. Callie couldn’t take certain things now, not that she wanted to have to explain that to Mark Sloan.

He just looked at her for a second, nodding. “Yeah, thanks. That would be a big help,” he conceded, giving her control of something simple when she clearly needed it.

They both looked surprised when Arizona suddenly kissed his cheek with a loud smack. “Um…” Reaching out with her good hand, Callie hooked her wife’s scrubs and hauled her to sit on the edge of the bed next to her. “Can I get one of those?” she requested, surprised to realize that she hadn’t kissed Arizona since this morning.

“Calliope… yes,” Arizona whispered, one hand turning Callie’s face to hers so she could kiss her softly, pecking lightly at her lips as if she was scared to hurt her. Callie knew she wouldn’t get a deeper kiss until the blonde was reassured that she really was okay. “I love you.”

“Oh, Arizona, I love you too,” echoed Callie, leaning her head onto Arizona’s shoulder. She had to stop Mark before he numbed her palm and started his work. “Just do it,” she said hoarsely when he blinked at her in surprise. “No drugs.”

“Torres, you’ve already proved how tough you are today,” he reminded her, looking between the pair of women. “It’s only a few stitches, but this is going to hurt.”

Arizona sighed, nodding to him. “Do what she says,” ordered the blonde, linking their hands against Callie’s thigh, fingers rolling the brunette’s wedding rings without speaking further. Callie hissed when the needle went in, but Mark was good and did it as quickly as he could. 

The stitches went in cleanly, Mark standing up with a friendly nod as he finished his work and left them alone. “Should we go up to OB?” Callie suggested quietly. She’d already told Owen their news, but it was still very early to be telling everyone they worked with. And Owen could be trusted not to spread it around.

Arizona nodded, considering. “Yeah.” If they still had any news to share, she wanted to tell her parents, Tim, and Aria first. Standing up, she steadied Callie on her feet, still anxious.

“I’m just tired,” Callie promised. “It was a long day.”

The blonde whimpered again, couldn’t help herself. She could have lost her wife today, the other half of herself. And they still might lose their child. Her gut clenched, couldn’t relax until they knew for sure. The ultrasound would help, but they wouldn’t know anything for sure without a sure to be agonizing wait.

Callie groaned in dismay as she caught sight of herself in the bathroom mirror of the exam room, her first glimpse of the dirt covering her hair, her face, her clothes. Her hand was clean only because Mark had sanitized it before he’d put in her stitches. “Shit. I look like crap.”

Arizona licked her lips. It didn’t matter that Callie was a little dirty, didn’t matter that this had been the longest day of her life. All that mattered was that her wife was alive. And God forbid, but if they lost this baby, they were both still here to have another one. They would be wrecked, of course, but Callie was safe, hadn’t been hurt. “You’re beautiful,” she said hoarsely, honestly.

Callie sent her a tired smile and climbed onto the exam table, sighing in relief. She’d been on her feet for longer in the OR than she had been in the cave in, but she hadn’t been so scared or emotionally drained by a surgery as she had been by today. And she was exhausted. She wanted nothing more than to take a shower (preferably with Arizona) and crawl into bed (definitely with Arizona) and sleep for the next ten hours. The Chief would just have to give her the morning off.

Arizona held her hand while the OB, Dr. Lucy Fields, a young fellowship doctor who’d been recommended by Addison, prepped the ultrasound, guiding the wand across Callie’s lower stomach, searching for the tiny dot that could grow to become their baby. Both of them closed their eyes, Arizona leaning her head against Callie’s while she clung to her hand. “There we are,” the obstetrician said a few minutes later, stabilizing the image on the screen as both women looked up. The doctor took a moment to search the monitor for any signs of trouble, finally nodding. “There’s the sack and the baby,” she said, pointing out each to them. “But I’m not seeing any signs of separation. They’re hanging in there. The best thing is for you to rest, try and take it easy, relax, and call me if you have any bleeding in the next few days.”

Taking an unsteady breath, Arizona spoke first, “So she might be okay?”

Dr. Fields nodded. “It looks like a good possibility,” she acknowledged with an encouraging smile. “Just relax. Both of you. Because if you’re stressed, it’s going to stress out Callie,” she said gently. She patted the Latina’s free hand lightly. “I heard what happened. I’m glad you’re okay, Dr. Torres.”

“Thanks,” Callie said hoarsely. “Me too.”

Their doctor nodded to them both, standing up and leaving them alone. Arizona brushed sweat-stiffened black hair back from her face, pressing a kiss to her temple. Reassured, now her feelings were starting to rise, swell out of her control. “Calliope, I need to talk,” she said, speaking before she realized she intended to. “I know we need to be calm, but I have some stuff I need to say. Because I’m not calm, Callie…”

It was rare to hear her shortened name from her partner and it made Callie’s back tense. Shit. Arizona had been soothed that she was okay and she was free to be upset now. “Arizona…” she started slowly.

“No, no, please don’t,” the blonde said, stepping back from the bedside to pace. “Don’t say… anything. Not yet. I just - I need to talk, get this out.” Dutifully, Callie stayed quiet, just dropped her dirty scrub shirt back over her stomach and sat up to listen. Arizona nodded, taking a moment to gather her thoughts. “Today… Today was the best and the worst day of my life, Calliope,” she said to start herself off. “We find out that you’re pregnant and the only time I’ve been happier is when we said our vows. But then I see on the news,” Callie winced, “that a doctor has been trapped in the sinkhole. But it’s not just any doctor, is it, Calliope? It’s you. It’s my pregnant wife!” She was gathering steam now, her volume increasing as her back and forth pace across the room grew quicker. “And then the Chief pulled me aside and confirmed all these bad feelings I had in my stomach, and I just… Callie, I don’t know what I would have done…” She couldn’t finish the statement, just shaking her head and looking at her even as her body kept moving around the room.

She stopped abruptly, facing Callie, and the raw fear and pain on her face was worse than anything Callie had felt herself. She’d happily have her heart ripped out if it meant Arizona never had to feel pain like this again. “Arizona, sweetheart…”

“Did you even think about me?” the blonde cut her off, her voice hard. “Before you climbed into an unstable sinkhole, did you think for one second about me? About what it would do to me if something happened to you?!”

“Yes!” Callie yelped into a pause for breath. “Of course I thought about you, Arizona. I don’t go five minutes without thinking about you!”

“But you still climbed into a hole in the Earth?! Because you thought so much of me?!”

“His wife was trapped,” she said, trying to remain patient. Screaming at each other when they were really just scared wouldn’t help the baby. “He wouldn’t leave her. And I couldn’t ask him to cut off her leg, so I went.” Arizona’s face softened as tears started silently. She didn’t shake, didn’t tremble, just stood and cried, her blue eyes never wavering from Callie’s face. “I would never leave you in some hole to die, Arizona,” she continued softly, sliding off the edge of the bed and back onto her feet. “I couldn’t ask him to do it either.”

“But you’d cut off my leg…?” Arizona whispered as Callie moved toward her an inch at a time.

The dark head nodded her agreement. “I would do anything for you. To save your life, I would cut off your leg.” She tried a smile hesitantly. “But I’m very good, so I’d do everything to leave you with good stump so you could get a prosthetic,” she promised, relieved when it got a glimmer of a smile from Arizona. “And if there wasn’t a way to get you out, I wouldn’t leave you either. And I couldn’t ask that guy today to leave his wife when I know I wouldn’t leave mine. Okay? You understand, right?”

Breathing deeply, Arizona nodded, swallowing hard. “Okay,” she whispered, relieved when strong arms wrapped around her, providing comfort and support and safety. “You scared me today, Calliope. Really scared me…” Her chin found a spot on Callie’s shoulder, closing her eyes as she melted into her. Never having this again would kill her.

“I’m sorry,” Callie apologized sincerely. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m so sorry.”

Nodding against her shoulder, one of Arizona’s hands slipped down to cover Callie’s stomach, sliding under her gritty top to touch her skin. “It’s not just us anymore, Calliope. It’s us. The three, or four, or however many of us there end up being.”

“Ten?” suggested the brunette with a smile, looking down to watch Arizona’s hand move under her shirt. “I know. I’m sorry. I should have thought about it today, but I’m not used to being pregnant yet.” Her next breath trembled. “And if what I did today…”

“No,” Arizona cut her off before she could put words to it. “No blaming. You’re here. That’s what matters…” The arm that wasn’t between them curled around the back of Callie’s neck, fingers playing in the back of her hair for a moment before she used the grip to steer Callie’s head up and into a kiss. It was still soft, hesitant contact though. “Can we please go home now?” she requested wearily, grimacing at the feeling of dirt falling out of Callie’s hair under her touch. “I love you, but you need to take a shower, Calliope.”

Surprised by the almost joke, Callie couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her. “I know you might not be in a celebrating mood anymore, but I would love nothing more than if you would get in there with me,” she requested, meekly meeting her eyes.

“Calliope,” Arizona sighed her name. “You’re not leaving my sight. It might be worse than after Africa, this time. You could have been crushed in a sinkhole today. I am absolutely taking a shower with you. Let’s go home.”

Callie changed in the locker room, brushing her hair out and dropping her filthy scrubs in the laundry with a shudder. If one thing had gone wrong, those would have been the clothes she died in. Arizona’s arms slipped around her waist from behind, smoothing the hem of her shirt at the same time that she protectively covered her stomach. It made Callie smile to think that Arizona might find a way to touch her like this every day for the next nine months. She hoped she would because she already loved it. “Let’s go home,” she breathed, leaning back into her.

Arizona drove them home, of course, and Callie stretched out in the front seat, groaning as tight muscles started to relax. She smiled when she caught Arizona looking at her. “Hey,” the blonde said softly, catching her left hand and pulling it to her lips, eyes focusing on the road.

“Hey,” Callie mumbled sleepily. Her tired smile was adorable and sexy and perfect. 

In spite of the late hour, Tim was waiting for them, clearly already knowing about what had happened. Arizona stood aside while he hugged Callie, his own relief clear on his face. It was so gratifying to see how much they loved each other, Tim taking his commitment as her brother-in-law completely seriously. She was his sister in every way but blood. And Callie loved him the same way. “I’ve done the heroic thing myself a time or two, so I can’t say anything, but seeing it on the news…” He opened an arm to Arizona, kissing the side of her head as she joined their hug. “Seeing it from your side this time… You need to be more careful out there,” he said sternly, keeping an arm around Arizona as he faced Callie.

“It’s not like she slipped and fell in,” Arizona chimed in. “She volunteered to go down into the sinkhole.”

Callie bit her lip at the edge of accusation in her wife’s tone. Obviously she wasn’t out of trouble yet. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry. I would never hurt you deliberately. You know that,” she said, pressing her lips against blonde hair. “How about you go warm up the water?” she suggested into her partner’s ear. “I’ll be right behind you.”

Arizona nodded, emotional but not wanting to be and grateful for the reprieve. “Good night, Tim,” she said, kissing his cheek and Callie’s before she went up the stairs.

They both watched her go, Tim’s hands tucking in the pockets of his jeans as he shifted his weight. “She really is Dad’s daughter sometimes,” he commented. “Give her some time to be upset, okay? She can really hold onto it, too.” Callie nodded, swallowing hard. “And she loves you. Really, she does. But you scared her today.” He ducked his head to meet her eyes. “I’m not saying this to hurt you, Cal, but I’ve never heard her cry like I heard her cry on the phone today after she found out what happened to you.”

Heart breaking, Callie choked back tears. “It won’t happen again,” she promised.

“We both know you can’t keep that,” he said. “You had to save that lady, right? I get that.” One arm rose to squeeze her shoulder and he met her eyes seriously. “Just don’t break her heart by getting yourself killed. She wouldn’t survive it.”

She suddenly burned to tell him why, exactly, Arizona had been so frightened, but she didn’t want to share their news without her. And she knew that the baby wasn’t the only reason Arizona had been scared. Because Arizona loved her. And of course she was scared to learn that she’d been trapped under the earth. But she would do whatever she had to do to never break Arizona’s heart like that.

“I can promise that,” she said, nodding.

“Then go get her.” Tim let her go with a smile. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Smiling back at him, Callie squeezed his hand before she retreated quickly up the stairs. She was impatient to get to her wife. Surprisingly, the shower was empty when she stumbled into the bathroom, her shirt already over her head and her pants loose at her waist. 

Arizona smiled almost shyly at her from the bathtub, already stripped and waiting for her in the lightly steaming water. “You going to join me?”

“Hell yes, I am,” Callie gasped, shoving her tight jeans down her legs as fast as she could. She stumbled again and had to catch herself against the wall to keep from crashing headlong into the bathroom counter.

Sitting up in the water, Arizona’s voice was strained as she pleaded, “Calliope, please be careful!” She was still stressed about potential accidents and her wife, and tripping in the bathroom was no exception. “Head wounds are not sexy.”

The grin Callie sent her was entirely sexy though. “I can do sexy,” she promised, finishing with her clothes. “Just give me a few minutes to get my hair washed and I’ll clean up and…”

“Can I do it?” Arizona interrupted her, sitting back against the smooth sloped wall of the tub. She loved this tub. It was made for two. But it had never been used for that purpose until after Callie had moved in. “Please?”

Callie nodded quietly as she stepped in and sank into the water, moaning appreciatively at the heat. “Even all dirty, you still love the short hair?” she asked, feeling Arizona’s hands on her sides guiding her between her knees.

“Hell yes, I do,” the blonde echoed Callie’s earlier declaration, wet fingers trailing over her shoulders. “Lean back,” she coaxed, cupping her hand to pour water over her scalp as Callie dipped her head backwards into the water. 

The warmth was delicious, loosening the remnants of dirt and sweat slowly, Arizona’s fingers in her hair making her eyes close to better absorb the sensation. The water moved as she shifted backward to lean her head against the blonde’s chest, Arizona still stroking shampoo into her now wet hair. “I’m sorry I ruined our celebrating.”

Arizona hushed her in an instant. “Didn’t you tell me after the wreck with the T-bird that the only way anything is ruined is if you’re not here with me now?” Under the water, an arm wrapped around her partner’s waist. “You’re alive, Calliope. That’s plenty for us to celebrate. And the OB said we don’t have anything to worry about yet with the little one.”

Dark eyes blinked open to look up at her. “Are you telling me that you, Arizona Robbins, who is professionally worried about babies, you are choosing to not worry until we have to?” Callie asked incredulously, smiling softly.

“This is personal worry about my baby,” Arizona reminded her. “And my wife. And if I worried as much as I’d like to, I’d give myself an ulcer, which would stress you out, which is bad for the baby…”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” said Callie, tilting her head back to nestle her nose against a pale neck. “Do we want a girl or a boy?”

Arizona couldn’t help smiling, though she shook her head. “I want a healthy baby. Anything else doesn’t matter to me.”

Callie craned up to kiss under her jaw. “Come on. Play along with me. Girl or boy?”

Considering, Arizona let her imagination run wild. The first thing that popped into her head was her perfect miniature Calliope. Guess they’d just have to have another one… Or think about it, anyway. “Girl,” she answered. “Beautiful just like her mother.” The water rippled again as Callie shifted again, needing to be closer to her. “We need to rinse your hair,” Arizona reminded her in a whisper.

Obligingly dunking her head, Callie resettled against her with her head against the blonde’s shoulder so she could reach her neck, cheek, and lips for kisses. “Okay, so, a girl. And do you want to be Mom, or Mama, or…”

“You’re Mami,” Arizona decided after a moment, attempting her best Spanish pronunciation.

Smiling against her neck, Callie kissed her skin softly. “You’re Mama.”

Arizona had to close her eyes, able to see their future at that moment - raising tiny humans together and being awesome surgeons. She wanted it the way she’d never wanted anything before. Calliope Torres was her mate, her other half, and she could barely believe anymore that she’d never wanted children before. Because she wanted the child she prayed was growing in Callie’s womb. She needed there to be more of her and Calliope in the world. There needed to more of them, together, their love, in the world - learning to walk, and then running around as a tiny little unstoppable force as she already knew any child of Callie’s would be, playing rough with Uncle Tim, getting hurt and scaring years off of her life, climbing into bed with them when a bad dream woke them up, all the things she’d been so scared to want. And she needed to be there to see every day of that child’s life.

“What about names?”

Callie’s warm voice against her ear brought her back to the present. “What?”

“Names,” Callie hummed against her jaw. “Did you ever have any favorite baby names, or did you not pick any out since you weren’t going to have children?” she asked, sounding almost smug at her success in changing Arizona’s dreams.

This was her dream. A life, children, a future with the woman in her arms. And she thought she’d been scared to lose Callie after the shooting at the hospital, but that was a pale shadow of what today had felt like. Losing either one of them would kill something inside of her, some part of who she was. But even with that fear choking her, she still found herself hoping desperately that Callie was still pregnant.

Callie nuzzled into her again. “Hey,” she whispered. “Where’d you go? Come back to me.”

Arizona breathed, “I’m here.” 

Her next breath was shaky, shuddery, and Callie tensed in her arms as she grew concerned. “Arizona…?”

Both hands smoothed over her stomach, still flat, but holding everything. She was holding everything she wanted. Everything she could have lost today. “Calliope…” Tears were choking her, closing her throat so she couldn’t say anything else.

“Hey,” Callie coaxed, feeling her start to tremble behind her. “Come on. Let’s get up and we’ll go to bed.” She got them up and out of the tub, Callie letting the water out and taking the towel Arizona handed her. 

“Can we lay down?” Arizona requested after they were dried off but before they were dressed in more than t-shirts and underwear, the blonde leading her to their bed by the hand. Crawling in, she settled on her side, facing Callie. She didn’t say anything, just looked at her, fingers trailing aimless patterns across her cheek, through her hair, over her jaw.

“Sweetheart, are you okay?” Callie asked hesitantly. Arizona looked close to tears again. “I’m sorry I frightened you. But we’re going to be okay,” she stated, breathing deeply when the blonde touched her stomach again. “I love when you touch me there,” she confessed, looking down at the hand on her abdomen and smiling.

Arizona laughed hoarsely. “You love when I touch you anywhere.”

“Yeah, I do,” Callie agreed, chuckling. “Will you hold me?”

The blonde head nodded as she swallowed. “Always.” Callie shifted closer, head leaning against Arizona’s as the hand on her middle flattened to cover more of her skin. Moving slowly, Arizona slipped her other arm underneath Callie’s neck. She wanted her always in her arms. Callie reached up to curl the arm under her head across her chest, delivering Arizona’s fingers into range of her breasts but more importantly, allowing her to scatter kisses across the blonde’s forearm as they fell asleep.


	19. Chapter 19

Callie had never been so happy to wake up nauseous, tearing herself out of Arizona’s arms to rush to the toilet. After a sleepy, confused second, the blonde was quick on her heels, pulling her hair back from the basin.

When she’d obeyed the command of the child growing inside her stomach and finished puking, Callie couldn’t help laughing, happy and grateful. Arizona provided her with her toothbrush and a cup of water, her own smile dimpled and dazzling. Callie slumped back against the base of the sink after she brushed and spit and rinsed, one hand on her stomach unconsciously.

Watching her quietly, Arizona held herself up with one hand on the wall, the relief making her knees weak. Her baby was still in there. “You,” she gasped, voice hoarse. “You can’t ever do anything like that again, Callie,” she ordered, dark eyes finding her quickly, surprised. “No, I’m talking,” Arizona cut her off before Callie could say anything to protest. “We have a baby, Calliope. And they don’t have a heartbeat yet, but they’re still ours. That is my baby in there,” her words were coming more quickly as her emotions rose, “and I don’t want anything happening to my baby,” she said, dropping to her knees suddenly when Callie started to stand up, the brunette wincing at the painful sounding crack of knees against tile. Arizona just ignored it. “My baby is in there,” she repeated, one hand reaching unsteadily toward Callie. Her breath was sucked away when her partner guided her hand to cover her stomach. “There’s a part of me inside you…”

“Arizona,” Callie breathed, stopping when the blonde just shook her head, eyes moving from their hands on her stomach to her face.

“In you, Calliope. I can’t lose you,” Arizona continued, voice steady again, stronger. “Nothing can happen to you, okay? You can’t ever leave. Promise me that right now…”

“Nothing’s going to happen to me,” promised Callie quickly, covering Arizona’s hand with her own. “I’m sorry about yesterday, I will always be sorry I scared you like that, but I will never, ever leave you. Do you understand me? That’s how this works. I’m with you, no matter what, forever.” Their eyes locked and Callie smiled, brushing one hand lightly across her cheek, feeling her lean into the touch.

Taking a shaky breath, Arizona shifted her hand gingerly to lean over from her spot on her knees and put her face next to the invisible place where her baby lived. “Hey,” she whispered, the soft sound drawing tears to Callie’s eyes. “You can’t hear me yet, but I’m your Mama and I love you so much.” She drew the edge of Callie’s shirt up to kiss her skin. “Mami and I want to meet you, so you hang on tight in there, okay?” she breathed, nuzzling her nose against the soft swell of her stomach and kissing it again.

Callie’s breath was hoarse with tears now, feeling full of emotion. “Damn it!” she muttered, trying to control her reaction. “These hormones are a bitch!”

“You’re lucky she can’t hear yet!” Arizona chided playfully, both hands covering Callie’s sides as though she could cover their baby’s ears. “Language, Calliope!” She sat up for a kiss with her wife. “And I kind of like you being all emotional,” she said with a laugh.

“Yeah, easy for you to say,” Callie said, grumpy. Crying because she was married to the sweetest person in the world was not hardcore or badass.

Arizona just nuzzled in for another kiss, sucking lightly on her lip. “If you can’t be emotional with me, who can you be emotional with?” she reasoned. “And if you say Tim, I’m going to smack him,” she warned. “And possibly you, but just on the ass.”

Callie raised an eyebrow, amused. “Oh yeah? And what did you just say about language, Arizona?”

The blonde shrugged, smirking. Her joy was clear to see now that she had been relieved. “She can’t hear us. And you’ve got a spectacular ass. You turned me into an ass girl, Calliope Torres. I’ve been a big fan since day one.” Callie’s head dropped back to laugh. “Big fan!”

“Yeah, well I love your rack, so I can’t say anything,” Callie said with a grin. “And your legs,” she added. “I love your legs!” A pause so she could sigh almost wistfully as she reminisced about her wife’s legs. Arizona’s eyebrow went up slowly as a proud smirk grew on her lips, dimples popping. Callie was quick to gesture to the impressions on her cheeks. “And those dimples! I love those. I want the little one to have those! Ooh! And your butt. Just, everything you’ve got, I love it,” she finally declared. Arizona shifted to sit beside her on the floor when Callie tugged on her wrist, dark head leaning over onto her shoulder. “You still going to love me when I’m all fat? Because technically it’s your fault…”

“Calliope Torres! You are pregnant, not fat!” Arizona reminded her pointedly. “And I could not be happier that it’s my fault,” she added proudly. “And of course I’m going to love you when you start to show.” She emphasized the final word while her hand swirled across tanned skin. “Because it’s my baby in there. That’s the hottest thing ever.” And saying that lost none of its terrifying magic the more she repeated it. Her baby was inside her wife. Right now, their baby was growing. It was… awesome. The most awesome thing ever, maybe.

The Latina laughed, squirming as Arizona dragged her short nails across her stomach. “Yeah?” Her voice was strained but less with emotion now and more with arousal. They’d missed out on marathon sex the night before, but the continuation of her morning sickness seemed to have reassured Arizona that they really could have come through a sinkhole okay.

“Yeah,” the blonde echoed, her own tone low and breathy. “How are you feeling?” Thus far, her morning sickness had been a quick purge every morning when she first woke up with no lingering symptoms.

“I’m hungry, but I feel fine,” Callie answered, not bothering to hide her hopeful smirk. “I’d love to eat,” she said, arching an eyebrow at her wife.

Arizona just groaned. She was married to the hottest woman in the world. And it was only going to get better. Her throat had gone dry and she swallowed thickly. “I think we have the stuff for pancakes…” she suggested dumbly, not sure how she was speaking at all when her brain was providing so many images. Oh so many images…

The smirk on Callie’s lips was delightful. “That’s not what I meant and you know it,” she said, turning her face into the blonde’s neck and pecking light kisses up and down her throat.

“You’re eating for two now,” Arizona insisted even as her eyes fell closed to savor the feeling of Callie’s lips on her skin. “And that doesn’t count,” she said before Callie could argue.

Frowning petulantly, Callie considered that. Coming up with a solution, she perked up and asked hopefully, “After breakfast?”

“Definitely,” Arizona agreed breathlessly, forcing herself to her feet and offering a helpful hand up to Callie.

The brunette was suddenly demonstrating an enviably ability to appear disaffected, crossing their bedroom to get sleep pants from the drawer. “Catch.” She threw a pair of Arizona’s favorite flannel pants across the room to her. Red and black patterned, they were too big and dragged past her heels but they were soft and comfy. She claimed they’d never been owned by Karev, but Callie wasn’t sure.

From the kitchen window, the sight of Tim, Alex, and Teddy scuffling over a football in the yard made them pause, Callie’s eyes lighting up. She’d always loved playing football. “Get that look off your face,” Arizona said, Callie blinking at her in confusion. “You can’t play football right now! One of those idiots would hurt you or the baby and then I’d have to kill them,” she said, lowering her voice even though they were alone in the kitchen.

Suddenly grumpy, Callie sent her a glare. “Fine, but you owe me.” Outside, as if to prove Arizona’s point, Teddy jumped on Tim’s back in an attempt to disrupt his pass to Karev, sending the pair of them crashing to the ground.

“I already said we’re having morning sex,” Arizona said with a laugh. “What more do you want?”

“Oh, we’re past sex, here,” the brunette declared. “You’re watching the playoff games with me!” Arizona’s mouth dropped open to protest immediately. She was not a sports fan. She knew the basics, but had never made an effort to learn, even though Tim (and now Callie) insisted that they were fun to watch and play. And she had enjoyed watching Callie play softball, but that was more about the hotness of her woman in a uniform than anything sports related. “I’m carrying your child,” Callie cut in with her shiny new secret weapon before a word could escape her partner.

Blue eyes blinked as she realized that there was exactly no argument she could make. “Fine,” she grouched. “Are you going to use that every time we disagree about something from now on?”

“Oh, most definitely,” Callie said, pleased by the effectiveness of her new weapon. Arizona relented slightly when Callie looked less disappointed about not getting to go outside and roughhouse with the others.

If any of their children picked up that expression from Callie though, she was screwed, Arizona realized privately. “What’s a playoff game?” she asked with a sigh. “Is that football?”

“Yes and no,” Callie answered with an eye roll. “There are football playoffs. Basketball starts now, though. And they start tonight. Me and Tim and Alex were going to watch the first one together after dinner, but now you can join us.” It was Arizona’s turn to look grumpy. “I don’t get to play sports, I’m at least going to make you watch them,” declared Callie, determined not to give into the pitiful expression. “So get that look off your face.”

With another little sigh, Arizona started setting up the griddle on the stove for pancakes. “Are we at least still having morning sex?”

Arizona was reaching up for the mixing bowl when Callie’s body pressed against her back, hands on either side of her body trapping her against the counter. Callie’s breath was warm against the side of her neck and she let out an involuntary squeak. “Arizona, I will take you right here, right now if you need me to,” she promised, face turning in to lay hot, wet, sucking kisses along her neck.

Swallowing hard and squeezing her eyes closed, Arizona took a shaky breath. “Oh God. Those hormones are amazing,” she gasped.

Callie laughed against her skin, licking the shell of her ear slowly. “Oh, this isn’t hormones. I just want you. Remember when I put you on the counter and we…”

“And Alex walked in on us?” Arizona cut in before the memory overwhelmed self-control. They were setting themselves up for the same interruptions. And as she recalled, before Alex had walked in, she’d been very close. Of course, Callie had just taken that as a challenge and started over… No. No matter how good it promised to be, she was not putting them in that position again.

“That was just bad luck. You could have been quieter. Let’s see how you can do this time,” Callie coaxed, one hand sneaking under the fabric of her shirt and moving north.

Arizona quickly caught her hand, breathing deeply. “Calliope, I want to, believe me.” A hot mouth sucked on her earlobe and she moaned reflexively, fighting the urge to hop onto their kitchen counter and let her do whatever she wanted. “But you’re having our baby.” Callie paused, not sure what the connection was. “You’re having our baby and I want to celebrate that.” Arizona turned in her arms, still pressed tight between the counter and Callie’s warm curves. “I want to take my time,” she whispered, Callie’s head already cocked and leaning in for a kiss. 

Soft and slow, the first meeting between their tongues made Callie’s grip on her hips tighten, pulling her infinitesimally closer. Thinking ahead to when Callie would start to show, when kissing this close would be impossible because their baby would be in between them, Arizona smiled into the contact. “What?” Callie pulled back to ask, kissing her lightly. 

The soft, sweet, loving smile on her lips made something in Arizona’s knees go weak. Only she got to see this side of Calliope. “Soon I won’t be able to get this close,” she said with another light, soft kiss. “Because everyone will be able to see our baby growing,” Arizona continued before Callie could make a comment about being fat. “You’re gorgeous. And you know it. But if you forget or don’t feel it sometime in the next nine months, just let me tell you how incredible and beautiful I know you are.”

Callie blushed, leaning back to meet her eyes. She didn’t have to ask to know how Arizona saw her, she could see it whenever blue eyes were on her. How she felt was in her eyes for everyone to see. “You’re beautiful, Arizona,” she whispered instead.

The tender moment was interrupted as the football hit the kitchen window from outside, Callie laughing when Arizona jumped in surprise. “Didn’t we kick them out? Why are they here, again?” the blonde asked sarcastically.

“It’s Saturday, babe. Family breakfast. And she’s going to need her uncles around,” Callie said, grinning and freeing Arizona from the counter. It would be months before they could find out the baby’s gender, if they even wanted to find out at all, but for now she liked the idea that their daughter was growing inside her. She loved the idea that they were having a child. She definitely wouldn’t have wanted to do this with anyone but Arizona Robbins.

Arizona scoffed. “You call Karev ‘Uncle Alex’ and see what he does,” she advised with a grin, resuming her pancake prep while Callie went to the window that had been hit and knocked to get the players’ attention in the yard.

She pushed it open so she could call outside, “You guys want pancakes?”

They all signaled eagerly that they would and Callie pushed the window closed again, taking up the spot at the griddle while Arizona mixed the batter. “Can we have chocolate chips?” she asked excitedly.

“Mmh, yes, please,” Callie hummed, leaning over for a quick, soft kiss. They worked together in comfortable quiet for a few minutes, Arizona sitting on the counter beside the stove and dispensing batter as Callie needed it. “Hey, so I wanted to ask you… when do we want to tell people about…” she glanced down at herself, “the little one?” asked Callie conversationally.

Arizona kicked her feet lightly against the cabinets, shrugging. “The end of the first trimester?” she suggested. “I mean, I want to tell people as soon as possible, but I want it to be…”

“More sure,” Callie finished, nodding. “Have I said yet today that I’m so sorry about the whole sinkhole thing…?”

“Stop,” interjected Arizona. “You’re okay, and until we find out something different, the baby’s okay too.” She scooped batter up on her finger, making sure to get a chocolate chip, and offered it to Callie.

She just smirked without taking it. “Are you seriously giving me that?”

Arizona blinked, unsure why this was a problem. “Um, yes?” she answered uncertainly.

“It’s got raw eggs in it.” Arizona just shook her head, frowning lightly while she tried to connect the dots. “Salmonella…” Callie coaxed her toward it. “And I’m pregnant…” That got no less awesome and amazing the more times she said it. She was pregnant - was going to have a baby with the woman she loved more than anything. Arizona’s mouth dropped open and she shrugged, sucking the batter from her own finger. “Seriously? You’re a doctor!” Callie said, laughing as she swatted a hand to her partner’s thigh.

“Yeah, but before I was a doctor, I was a kid who loves chocolate chips,” Arizona countered, voice muffled by her finger in her mouth. Callie just shook her head in disbelief. “I ate cookie dough and pancake batter all the time and I never got salmonella…” she insisted lightly. She laughed. “Tim actually thought for a while that Mom made it up so we wouldn’t eat the cookie dough.”

“Okay, so your mom did try and tell you. You just didn’t listen!”

“Yep,” confirmed Arizona with a cheerful grin. “Just like we’ll tell her,” she gestured downward toward Callie’s stomach, “and I’m sure she’ll eat it anyway just like I did.”

Callie leaned over for a kiss, able to taste the sweetness on her lover’s lips. “You know, when she comes out a little troublemaker, I’m blaming you,” she promised in a whisper, privately loving the idea that their child could be a little Arizona clone. She knew it wasn’t likely to happen with the most of the physical features, but she’d be perfectly happy if they had the perkiest, most smiley little baby in the world. Her thumb traced the dimple that she prayed had been passed on to the baby inside her.

“Me, Calliope?” Arizona teased. “Because of the two of us, you’re the much bigger troublemaker!”

Callie pulled back to grin at her, leaning back into her space in front of the stove to keep working on breakfast. She was relieved to still be experiencing morning sickness but she had no desire to see what the baby thought of the smell of burned pancakes. “You lie! What do I do?”

“Excuse me?! Which one of us, today, proposed sex in the kitchen while our friends are outside in the yard?! Because that wasn’t me!” Oh yeah. That was her. And she would absolutely still go for it. The arch of her eyebrow promised that. “No, Calliope,” Arizona denied her again flatly. “We’re feeding you and the baby actual food and then we’re going upstairs and we’ll do whatever you want.”

Callie just nodded and bit her lip, already knowing exactly what she wanted to do. “Do you want to hear what that is?” she asked, always happy to find another way to tease her lover. “It’s commonly referred to by a number,” she added before Arizona could decide if she’d rather be tortured through breakfast or not. “Comes before seventy. And so do you, normally, when we do it…” Callie had counted it out before, drawing numbers with her tongue against her lover’s clit. Arizona had come well before seventy. Thirty-four had become Callie’s new lucky number.

Groaning at the images her brain supplied instantly, Arizona had to close her eyes, her fingers gripping the edge of the countertop under her tightly. “See! Troublemaker!” she declared, voice hoarse. Callie was clearly enjoying herself because she just laughed at the accusation.

“Who’s a troublemaker?” Tim asked as he entered from the hallway behind them. “Callie? Callie’s totally a troublemaker!” he agreed with a wink, retrieving three water bottles from the fridge. “What’d you do this time?”

The wicked look in her eyes made Arizona speak up before she could answer, “No, nope! Don’t answer that!”

“Oh, so a sex thing,” guessed Tim wisely, chuckling. “What are you doing, holding out on her?”

“Hell no!” Arizona shot back, praying that her face didn’t flush as she remembered exactly what they’d been discussing two seconds before he’d come in the room. “No way!”

“Kind of the opposite, actually,” Callie confessed with a smirk, causing both of the Robbins siblings to groan in protest.

Tim choked on his water and pounded a fist to his chest. “I’m going to go take a shower,” he gasped out hoarsely. “And when I come back, we’re going to eat pancakes and have wholesome conversation that doesn’t involve my sister’s sex life!”

“Amen, brother!” Arizona agreed, narrowing her eyes at her partner and defiantly scooping up another finger of pancake batter for herself. “You behave!” she warned her sternly. “Troublemaker!” she couldn’t resist adding, letting a dimpled grin slip to her face.

*****

Arizona could do nothing but moan as her back collided with the wall of their bedroom, Callie’s hands everywhere, lips and tongue setting her skin on fire. “Mmh, baby…” She squealed when both strong, Ortho hands found her ass, Callie lifting her just enough to get her feet off the floor. Her own hands flew to her wife’s shoulders, trying to push her back. “Calliope, no!” Pregnant women should not be lifting and carrying other women. Even if the other woman was her and it was incredibly hot.

Callie was too strong for her though, and just leaned back so Arizona more or less fell into her. Two long steps and she tumbled them both into bed, laughing as they rolled across the sheets. “I wouldn’t drop you,” she said, pulling on Arizona’s ear lightly with her teeth.

“I’m not worried about you dropping me,” Arizona gasped out, eyes falling closed. “You shouldn’t strain yourself.” Callie’s hand was under her shirt, sliding up her side, and she found it hard to breathe steadily, much less think of words.

Nails dragged across sensitive flesh and her body bucked. “I’m not an invalid, Arizona,” Callie reminded her, voice a growl in her ear. “I’m pregnant.”

It was Callie’s turn to yelp as Arizona flipped them suddenly, throwing her leg over the Latina’s prone body and sitting up, knees on either side of her hips. “Yes, you are,” she said, voice soft and reverent now. “Calliope…” Callie just smiled up at her, sitting up on her elbows when Arizona shuffled backwards and pushed her shirt up slowly. Blonde hair tickled her skin as her partner kissed across her belly and Callie laced her fingers through the soft locks. “Thank you.”

Callie stroked her head gently, touched. “Shouldn’t I be saying that?” she asked hoarsely. “I’ve got everything I want, because of you. I’m not me without you.” Arizona looked up and their eyes met for a long moment, Callie smiling sweetly. “Now, I’m as big a fan of mushy as the next girl,” Arizona laughed, dimpled grin already out, “and I love you on top of me, of course, but I wouldn’t be opposed to some movement, if you’re up for it.”

“Oh, you know I’m up for it,” Arizona answered without a pause, leaning forward to put her face over Callie’s, catching her wrists simultaneously and holding them to the sheets. “But I think you challenged my ability to be quiet earlier, Calliope.” Callie swallowed and Arizona ducked her head to kiss her swiftly, not lingering and dodging her wife’s attempt to reconnect the kiss. “Should we see how you can do?”

Arizona’s desire to take her time and celebrate echoed in her ears, but Callie couldn’t stop herself nodding. If Arizona wanted to spend more time between her legs, who was she to argue? She wasn’t going to break. “Let’s see what you’ve got…” she challenged, arching an eyebrow at her.

The next kiss was slower, Arizona guiding her shirt the rest of the way up with both hands. Tossing it away, her hands took their time exploring all the newly revealed flesh. Her sleep pants were easy to push down, Callie helpfully lifting her hips. Arizona dodged her attempt to keep kissing her though. “My mouth’s going somewhere else now,” she reminded her, loving getting to tease her. “You just lay back and rest and try not to come.” Growling, Callie tried to sit up, only for Arizona’s hand on the middle of her chest to push her back flat on the bed. “Or come if you want,” Arizona said, smirking. “I’m not going to mind.”

Callie relented when the blonde’s other hand rubbed across the front of her panties, hooking between her legs and pulling them down. Who was she kidding? If Arizona wanted to tease her, she would do her best to make it last. The first swipe of a tongue through her was nearly her undoing though, her body jumping. And Arizona didn’t make it easy on her, diving in hungrily after her first taste. She didn’t go slow or linger to tease, just went straight for the prize eagerly, sucking and licking and thrusting her tongue. “Arizona, God,” Callie gasped, hands fisted in the sheets.

The blonde’s hands held her legs open when Callie started to squeeze them around her. “Callie, you - you taste…” Her words faded out into drawn out moans and Callie could feel her peak coming at her as the sounds sent sensation shooting through her. No. Arizona was amazing in bed, but she’d been challenged and she wouldn’t let this happen so soon. And she wanted to scream. “I take it back,” Arizona declared suddenly, voice muffled and breathless. “Be as loud as you want. It’s hot that I can make you come so fast. Come, baby. I need it - I need more.”

“What about going slow?” Callie ground out, still struggling to hold back. “Taking your - oh fuck - time?” Arizona’s lips closed around her clit and she sucked hard again.

“We will go slow next time,” reasoned Arizona, words breathed against a hot core. “Now, I’m telling you, come in my mouth.” Unable to not obey, Callie let go, her body rocked with tremors as her lover drank down everything she gave her. Without either of them realizing they’d done it, Arizona reached one hand up while Callie stretched down, their hands meeting and fingers lacing. It was Callie’s grounding connection, Arizona guiding her gently back down to earth as she coaxed her through the aftershocks with slow, dragging licks through her center.

Both were breathless when Arizona flopped on the pillow next to her, Callie turning onto her side and into her, kissing her shoulder and hugging her arm. “Where the hell did that come from?” she questioned, laughing. Of course, they had a fantastic sex life but it was rare that Arizona devoured her like the last steak at a cookout.

Instead of answering vocally, Arizona lifted her head and rocked toward her, kissing Callie. Her tongue slid between full lips and Callie moaned at the taste of herself on her lover. “You taste different. I like it. You can’t get all self-conscious and think you’re not sexy, because I need to do that every day,” Arizona panted, her words tripping over each other. “You’re amazing, Calliope.”

“I’m going to be a hormone casserole, so no promises, but I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” Callie answered with a laugh. “It was pretty good for me too.” That was an understatement of epic proportions. She squeezed the hand she was still holding. “I want you now though. Get naked.”

Arizona shook her head. “I’m going again,” she declared, starting to slide back down Callie’s body. The brunette caught her by the shoulders, dragging her back up. She could feel Arizona’s wetness on her skin and took a shaky breath.

“Let me take care of that for you,” she coaxed softly. She almost couldn’t believe that Arizona looked conflicted, torn between letting Callie touch her and slaking her own thirst for her wife. Callie leaned up to kiss her, light, soft, pecks on the lips. “Let me make you feel good,” she requested, licking lightly at her lip. “Please? Turn around at least,” compromised Callie. “I want you, Arizona. I want you on my tongue the way I’m on yours.”

It was enough, hearing the gorgeous, incredible, amazing woman (with her baby inside her) pleading to give her pleasure, and Arizona kissed her again swiftly before she kicked off her pants, tossed her shirt, and reoriented herself in the bed, returning to her happy place between her wife’s thighs. And then Callie was in her, tasting her, and she had to drop her face to the sheets for a second, adjusting to the feeling. Because it was a good feeling. “Calliope…”

“Shh, I know,” Callie assured her, knowing how she felt because she felt it too. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” reciprocated the blonde, squeezing her eyes closed against the darkness of the sheets her face was buried in. Callie made her see lights and colors though, all the cheesy stuff she’d sworn was shit. It wasn’t. With the right person - it happened. And Callie was her right person - not just in bed, but in life. Which made her the luckiest person on the planet. And the woman she loved, the woman who had helped her build their life together, the life she loved, was giving her a baby. It felt like she couldn’t go more than a few minutes without thinking about it.

Callie was pregnant.

Calliope, her Calliope, was going to have a baby.

Her baby.

Holy shit.

It was terrifying, the single scariest thing she’d ever thought in her life, but it sort of exhilarated her too. She was having a baby with the woman she loved more than life. They were going to be mothers together. To a baby. Like one of the kids she saw every day (but never like one of those kids because that would kill her), but theirs.

A hand slapping her thigh lightly brought her back to the present, Callie’s voice amused. “You know, you could just say you’re too tired if you’re not into this. Or you have a headache or something.”

Arizona nipped her thigh firmly in rebuke. “Bite your tongue! I was just thinking…”

“What are you thinking about so hard when I’m going down on you?” she asked, curious what could have so thoroughly distracted her usually responsive (and vocal) lover.

Arizona bit her again, sucking on the skin for a few seconds. “You’re having our baby,” she breathed, bumping her nose against the mark she’d left on the inside of Callie’s thigh. “It’s awesome.” But now she was back on task, focusing on what was directly in front of her, which at this second, was her wife’s practically dripping core. It was suddenly calling her name.

And then Callie was calling her name, voice trembling as Arizona licked her. “Arizona, please…” She kept up her actions, determined to keep Callie making those happy noises. Because she loved that she could make her feel that good.

Not that Callie was a slouch at making her feel good, either. And her wife proved that as she went back to town on her, Arizona moaning at the feeling she was actually appreciating now. Falling into rhythm and mirroring Callie’s own actions against her, Arizona realized that she was actually really close already, her body responding to Callie even when her brain had been elsewhere. So she redoubled her efforts, determined to make sure Callie came with her. So when her orgasm hit her, sending fire through her veins, she put everything she had into sending Callie over that edge right behind her.

It was only after that they were face to face again, Callie twining their limp limbs together hopelessly, that Arizona let her smug grin show. “I know you just got a pretty good orgasm, but what’s that look for?” the Latina hummed, still moaning her own satisfaction. Not only had Arizona gotten her own pleasure, she had given some more than pretty good feelings herself.

“You definitely screamed.”

“I did not!” Callie denied, mouth hanging open.

Arizona giggled, stealing a swift kiss. “Oh, you totally did, Calliope. I win!” She made an exaggerated fist pump in the air over their heads, Callie’s hand swatting her bare side.

“Maybe you shouldn’t watch sports with the boys. I think they’re a bad influence on you,” Callie groused, pulling her arm back down and wrapping it around herself. For an undeniable badass, hardcore, bone breaking, ass kicking surgeon, Callie was an equally undeniable cuddler after sex. Arizona not so secretly adored it.

“Maybe we just won’t get out of bed,” countered Arizona. “You screaming for me is way more fun than stupid basketball or whatever, anyway.”

And as much as she did like sports, Callie couldn’t argue with that. Well, of course, she would argue with the screaming part, but staying like this with Arizona was an appealing idea. Arizona groaned when Callie rolled away from her suddenly, hand stretched out and searching blindly across the top of the table beside the bed.

“Hey, I wasn’t done with you yet,” the blonde protested, reaching out and finding her wife’s calf with one hand. She felt around to make sure that’s what she was grabbing before she wrapped both hands around it and pulled.

Something fell off the table as Callie squealed, Arizona determinately tugging again until Callie was close enough to wrap up more securely. “You’re like a caveman right now, you know that?” she pretended to complain as Arizona curled both arms and legs around her.

Arizona just shrugged, nuzzling her nose into dark hair. “Mine,” she murmured to play along. One eye cracked open when Callie laughed. “What fell? Did I break something?”

“My phone fell, that’s all,” Callie answered just as the beep of an answered text message rang. “But it didn’t break.” Arizona grunted for play, kissing her neck. “Are you going to let me get that?” Callie asked when her wife made no move to release her. Of course, trapped in Arizona’s arms wasn’t a hold she was quick to fight her way free of.

“Mmh, I’m thinking no. Who’s it from?”

“It’s Tim.”

“Then no,” confirmed Arizona cheerfully. “You’re not getting out of sexy time in bed with me to go talk to my stupid, stinky brother.”

Callie laughed, stroking one hand lightly across the blonde’s arm where it was snugly across her waist. “I told him we were busy and he and Alex should watch the game at his place.”

Arizona’s head popped up, her smile wide. “Really? You’re blowing off the playoffs with the boys for me?”

Stretching, Callie smiled as Arizona started pecking quick kisses across her face. “Well, I’d say we could still watch it, but you’ve got your silly ‘no TV in the bedroom’ rule.”

“That rule’s not silly,” Arizona argued, still kissing any skin she could reach. “That rule’s awesome. And still in effect, Calliope.”

“It’s my house too,” the brunette countered, enjoying the lazy joy of just basking in bed with her wife. And the teasing was nice too, as well as Arizona’s completely unconscious stroking of two fingers back and forth across her stomach.

“It is, but we’re not putting a TV in here, no matter how much sex you offer.” Her lips found the pulse in Callie’s neck and she smirked against the skin when the Latina’s head tipped backwards to give her more space.

“I’m having your baby,” Callie reminded her, eyes closed as she enjoyed the sound of Arizona’s growl against her throat. “But if we’re putting anything in here, it’ll be a crib. And no way our baby’s getting used to going to sleep to the sound of a TV,” she reasoned, smiling as she felt Arizona pull back, leaning up to look at her. “Hey,” she murmured as she opened her eyes, Arizona brushing hair back from her face with the hand that wasn’t still touching her stomach.

“Hey,” Arizona answered softly, breathing deeply. Her whole world was in this bed. Ducking her head, she kissed Callie’s shoulder, happy when her partner’s arm curled over her shoulder. “We can watch the game if you want to,” she offered.

Callie didn’t even play like she was thinking about it, just shook her head. “I want to stay right here.” She palmed the back of Arizona’s head, pulling her down to her lips gently. “Because that was good, but I don’t think we’re done celebrating, are we?”

“Hell no,” Arizona growled, meeting her lips firmly.


	20. Chapter 20

If she didn’t love her so much, Callie could almost hate Arizona for standing at the sink and brushing her teeth while she was on her knees vomiting into the toilet. After two weeks of relatively easy morning sickness it had gotten worse, leaving her heaving every day without fail. But now, after a month of only increases in her pregnancy symptoms with none of the signs of trouble that Arizona was watching her for like a hawk, they’d both started to relax.

The cup of water Arizona offered her when she leaned back was accepted gratefully, Callie sipping on it while she caught her breath. “I think we should tell people,” Arizona announced as she held Callie’s toothbrush down to her, toothpaste already on the bristles.

“What happened to waiting until the first trimester was over?” asked Callie, leaning back against the wall while she brushed her teeth. They only had a few more weeks to wait anyway.

Arizona perched lightly on the edge of the sink, watching her. At two months, she wasn’t showing yet, but there were subtle changes already. Or at least Arizona insisted there were. “If we don’t give them some kind of explanation for the puking, everyone’s going to think I’m poisoning you or something.”

Callie shot her a narrow look, scoffing. “Yeah, right. You only let me eat health food crap. That’s more obvious than the puking!” The puking had only happened at home so far, but Arizona was carrying the food insanity to the cafeteria at work.

“I’m trying to take care of our baby, Calliope,” Arizona countered patiently. This was a disagreement they’d had before. Callie wanted to eat whatever she craved, but Arizona insisted on health food. “But how about this - we’ll take everybody out to dinner and we’ll tell them we’re having a baby and you can order whatever you want.” Callie arched a doubtful eyebrow at her, leaning over the toilet again to spit out her toothpaste foam. “As long as it’s not bad for the baby, of course,” Arizona added quickly.

Callie hit the flush and sat back against the wall, eyeing her. “And you won’t say anything, or make faces at me?”

Sighing, the blonde head nodded. “I won’t say anything,” she confirmed. “Or make faces,” Arizona added before Callie could prompt her to say it. “I promise.”

The smile she got as a reward made it completely worth it, Callie giving her a dazzling expression. “Okay.” She held both hands up for assistance up from the floor and Arizona helped her to her feet. “So when are we going?” she asked eagerly, kissing the blonde happily on the cheek before she rinsed out her toothbrush and put it back in the cup.

“That depends,” Arizona mused, using the opportunity to slip both hands over Callie’s belly, the invisible bump where their child grew. “Do you want to invite Aria? Because last time we talked to her, she was in Texas. She’d need a little bit of notice to be able to make it here for dinner.”

“What about your parents?” Callie asked, her eagerness for unhealthy food dampened by the reminder that they both had family outside of Seattle that they would want to share the news with.

Arizona pecked a kiss to her neck. “Didn’t I tell you? They’re coming in this weekend for Tim’s birthday.” She laughed, nuzzling into her skin. “I could have sworn I told you.”

She had told her, Callie realized. She’d just plain forgotten about it. Her brain was just too full of hormones and emotion to keep hold of anything else. Focusing in surgery was the extent of her mental abilities anymore. “You did. I just…”

“You’re pregnant,” Arizona hummed, unmistakably proud of that fact. “It’s okay.” Her hands stroked across the surface of Callie’s shirt while the dark head fell back against her shoulder, leaning into the embrace. “I love touching you like this,” she whispered, knowing that Callie loved it too.

“I’m glad,” the Latina confirmed it. “Thank you, baby. I know I haven’t exactly been easy to deal with…”

Arizona kissed under her jaw, sucking on the skin to stop her words. “You’re growing our baby, Calliope. I can take a little bad attitude.” She dragged her tongue over the mark she’d left on Callie’s neck. It wasn’t deep, it would fade in an hour or two. “We’re having a baby,” she whispered.

Nodding, Callie touched the hands at her middle, Arizona lacing their fingers. “I’ll call Aria and see if she can get here next week. But let’s wait until after Tim’s birthday. He should have his own day without a baby stealing the spotlight…”

“You’re sweet,” murmured Arizona. “We’ll have to figure out a good excuse for why you can’t drink on Timmy’s birthday though. He’s used to partying with Marines.” While she spoke her fingers trailed across Callie’s belly.

“Just get me a beer in a brown glass bottle and we’ll get it refilled with water,” Callie suggested, her eyes sliding closed. It felt really good when Arizona touched her like that.

Arizona laughed, a bit surprised how easily her wife had come up with that plan. “That should do it, but no drinking contests with Karev. Or Tim,” she paused, considering, “Or Aria…”

“Yeah, it wouldn’t be fair for me to win so easily,” she scoffed. “Not even coffee?” Callie asked, flinching away from the pinch on the hip that that earned her. Her need for coffee had been a tetchy issue between them, Arizona insisting that it would be better for the baby if she was off caffeine while Callie had done her research and stated flatly that she would limit her coffee intake, but not cut it out entirely. She needed her coffee, damn it!

“Very funny, Calliope,” the blonde shot back. “You’ll regret it when she’s kicking you like crazy.”

Callie smiled up at the ceiling, her head still leaned back on Arizona’s shoulder. “Coffee or not, I’m sure she’ll kick me like crazy. She’s your child!”

That got her another pinch, this time on an ass cheek. “Excuse me? You are the one who kicks! Remember that time I woke up on the floor in Spain because you literally kicked me out of the bed!” Arizona countered with a laugh. 

They definitely needed to go on a trip before the baby came. Probably not somewhere exotic - they were already going to take maternity leave, no way the Chief would give them extra time before that. To say nothing of her hesitance to expose Callie to anything close to a foreign illness. But they could take a weekend and go down to L.A. and visit Addie, maybe. And it would give her a chance to tell her friend about the baby and avoid the redhead’s anger at her lack of communication skills.

“We don’t actually know I kicked you out of the bed!” Callie brought her back to their playful argument. “I mean, why would I do that?!”

“All I know, Calliope, is that I woke up on the floor! That tells me that you were the kicker and I was the kicked!”

“We’d been drinking. Maybe you were just drunk!” Another pinch on the ass. “Which sounds better for when we tell the kids this story - Mami kicked Mama out of bed, or Mama was drunk and fell out herself?” Callie asked teasingly, which ended the discussion while they both took a moment to remember that they were about to be parents.

And damn it if it still wasn’t the most terrifying thing Arizona had ever thought in her life. But she was doing it with Callie. And they could do this. Even being anxious about being a mother didn’t mean she wasn’t good with children. And Callie was brilliant with kids. Everyone in their position was anxious. They could definitely do this…

“Yeah,” she said, laughing. “Maybe we don’t tell them about that for a few years…”

“Like, eighteen,” suggested Callie. Arizona’s hands on her hips turned her so they’re face to face. “I can’t wait to tell everybody,” she said with a smile, Arizona nodding. “Is your mom going to freak out? Because I kind of think she’s going to freak out.”

The blonde grinned. “She’s definitely going to freak out,” she confirmed. “Especially since she might not know we’ve been trying.” She tried an exaggeratedly wide smile, knowing her dimples would show up and help her out as Callie gaped at her.

“You never told her?!”

“You never told her either!” Arizona countered quickly. Her mother and Callie talked often, Callie could have told her anytime herself. But she’d just assumed Arizona would have done it. “But I’ll tell you now, she might be so happy she’ll kiss you. So be prepared.”

Callie laughed suddenly, shaking her head at her wife. “Oh boy… What’s your dad going to think?”

“He’s going to want a grandson,” said Arizona. “So if the first one’s a girl, he’s going to need us to have more.”

“Aww, but he’s so sweet with you. He’d be adorable with a little girl!”

Laughing, Arizona pecked a kiss to her lips. “I know! Just never let him hear you say it,” she advised, still smiling. The expression sobered slowly as she remembered the other set of parents they were deliberately leaving out of the conversation. “Calliope…”

“Don’t,” Callie cut her off knowingly. “I want us telling people to be a nice time. My parents being there would not be nice.”

Arizona nodded, arms wrapping around her waist so that their stomachs touched. “Okay. But if you ever want to try and talk to them, I’ll go with you,” she offered softly.

Sighing heavily, Callie leaned her forehead against her. “Thank you, but them letting me down is not a new revelation.” Their eyes locked. “And I can handle it. Really, I can. But I can’t let them let you down, or let down our baby.” They both glanced down at her stomach, Arizona slipping a hand in between their bodies to cover her again. 

“This kid’s going to have so many people that love them, Calliope,” she whispered. “It might not be two sets of grandparents, but they will have parents that adore them, an Uncle Tim, and an Aunt Aria, and Teddy, and Alex, and Addie. And I promise, my parents will be crazy enough about this one for four grandparents.”

“And what, exactly, are we going to do about the sleeping arrangements when all these loving people are here? Aria’s happy to spend daddy’s money to stay at a hotel, but the idea of this house was for your parents to have somewhere to stay when they visited, but I still feel a little weird putting your parents in one of the boys’ old rooms. They could have our room…”

“You are not sleeping on that couch,” Arizona declared immediately. “It’s a deathtrap!”

“That we still haven’t replaced,” Callie laughed. They’d been meaning to, but it was a low priority when they didn’t have someone crashing at their house.

Arizona shook her head stubbornly. “It’ll give the baby back problems.” She grinned, winking and stealing a quick kiss. “And, honestly, I can deal with the typical pregnancy dramatics, but I just do not want to deal with you after a night on that couch,” she teased, slipping away before Callie could respond with more than a dropped jaw.

Without moving from her spot in their bathroom, Callie called after her, “I guess someone doesn’t want to deal with all the extra pregnancy sex, either!” A smirk graced her lips when Arizona immediately stopped fleeing and spun back to her. Pregnancy hormones had been very good to them so far, with no end in sight. Now was it Arizona’s turn to get woken up at all hours just because Callie couldn’t wait any longer. Callie just shrugged as their playful gazes met. “I could always take care of it myself, I guess, but…”

“That’s not funny, Calliope,” Arizona said, moving back toward her slowly, noticing that Callie had shifted so that she would be boxed in between Arizona herself and the bed. “I take my marital rights very seriously.”

“Well, like you said, we’re married, sweetness. For better or worse,” Callie teased her lightly. “So if you want the sex, you’ve got to put up with the potential backache and bad attitude too.”

Arizona nodded, dimples beaming at her. “But there’s a way around us sleeping on the couch. We’ll just sleep in one of the boys’ rooms. You don’t think Aria will want to stay here, do you?”

“Nah, she’ll be at the Archfield, I’m sure. You think you can stand the boys’ rooms, babe?” asked Callie with a laugh. And did they really want to inflict either bedroom on Arizona’s psyche? They’d both been witness to a lot of other people, people she loved and was close to, having sex in them…

“Oh, I think we’re getting entirely new sheets.” Arizona’s blue eyes were wide and she shuddered.

In the end, everyone came over for breakfast to celebrate Tim’s birthday, a tag-team affair between Callie and Barbara. Arizona had to steal bacon off Callie’s plate more than once, getting a glare every time.

A few of Tim’s Marine buddies took him out for drinks on the night of his birthday and Arizona, Callie, Teddy, and Alex, who all had to work, went out to Joe’s for a nightcap while the elder Robbins had a date night.

The doctors’ bar could get loud occasionally (the hospital was a dramatic place), but it was a different level of noise when the military guys showed up. Arizona was sitting on the outside of the booth and caught her brother’s eye, Tim sending her a smirk and an apologetic shrug.

Callie followed her gaze and grinned at her brother-in-law, leaning her head over onto Arizona’s shoulder. “Tired?” the blonde asked considerately, her voice low. “We can go home.”

Callie shook her head, taking a sip from her counterfeit beer bottle, Joe happily helping them with the subterfuge by refilling it with water every time Arizona took their glasses up for a refill. “It’s still early.” She finished her drink. “But I do need to go to the bathroom. Who needs another? I’ll get them while I’m up.” Arizona slipped off the bench to let her out, Alex pushing his scotch glass to the edge of the table. “Teddy, more wine?”

The heart surgeon eyed her glass for a moment, seeing Tim throw back a shot at the bar. And this wasn’t their first stop. “Sure, one more,” she decided. If she was going home with a drunk guy, she might as well have a little buzz.

“I’ll be right back,” Callie said with a smile, gathering the two glasses and her own bottle, Arizona still nursing her own white wine. She dropped them off at the bar, shooting the bartender a wink as she passed the counter and went through the crowd to the restroom. She wondered idly if he’d guessed the reason behind their subterfuge with her beer. He would never spill the beans though.

Returning a few minutes later, she leaned on the corner of the bar to wait patiently for their drinks, the bar crowded. A guy, one of Tim’s Marine buddies, took up a position next to her and greeted her, not caring that she just smiled politely, clearly not interested. “Hey, baby, let me get those for you,” he offered, sliding money across the bar to Joe, who exchanged amused glances with Callie. “And don’t rush off. Stay and drink them with me, how ’bout?”

Callie eyed her beer bottle, the wine glass, and Alex’s scotch. If she was drinking all of those herself, she’d be in for a rough night. “Oh, thank you for the offer, but I’m here with people,” she said, trying to be gracious and paying herself. “You guys have a good night.” Tim gave her a wink over the other guy’s head and she smirked at him, shaking her head as she picked up her drinks.

Arizona gave her a quick kiss as she sat down, putting her free hand possessively high on Callie’s leg. It wasn’t new that the gorgeous Latina got attention when they went out, but she still liked to stake her claim. Anyone from the hospital knew that they were happily married and that there was no chance with either of them, but drunk Marines were a different story. Callie carrying her child only encouraged those protective instincts. “Nice guy?” she questioned lightly, teasing. And Callie wasn’t noticeably pregnant yet, but she had the glow for sure. It was utterly gorgeous.

“Hey, I could have just gotten us free drinks,” Callie countered, kissing her again softly.

Arizona scoffed. “Of course you could have, baby.” There was never a question about that. Callie could walk into any bar in any city and get a drink in minutes, she had no doubt.

At the bar Tim nursed his beer, looking sideways when an elbow bumped his side. “Hey, man, check it out. No wonder that chick wouldn’t give me a shot. Lesbians, man.” Tim’s brows furrowed. “Hot lesbians.” He glanced over his shoulder to where Callie and Arizona were sitting with Teddy and Alex. “If that one won’t turn, I bet I could flip the blonde one.”

“Hey!” Tim barked shortly. “Shut up, man!”

“What?” his drunken friend questioned. “It’s hot chicks!”

“I’m serious. Shut up.” Tim was clearly stern, but the other man paid it no notice.

“What? I’m just talking about nailing some hot chicks. Maybe they’d let me watch…”

Pushing his stool back from the bar, Tim abruptly punched the other man in the face. The surprised and drunken Marine tumbled off his seat. “That’s my sister, asshole!” His friend scrambled up shakily onto his feet, Tim pushing him back with one hand and he thought better of retaliation. “And her wife,” Tim added, warning clear in his posture as he glanced around at his friends. “We got a problem here?”

Looking past Tim to where half the bar was watching, including Callie and Arizona, he shook his head, retaking his seat. “Sorry, bro. I didn’t know. And I didn’t mean nothing by it.” Leaning back, he waved to the table. “I’m sorry, ladies.”

Arizona, familiar with the reaction she normally got from Tim’s friends when they realized she was a lesbian, just nodded, her expression stiff. Callie smiled weakly and glanced at Arizona beside her. “Hey,” she whispered, drawing blue eyes. “Love you.”

“I love you,” Arizona echoed her. Below the table, Callie pulled on the hand from her thigh and slid it up to her belly, Arizona’s smile instantly becoming natural and real. “I love you,” she repeated herself on a soft sigh.

Callie’s smile was dazzling and she took a sip of her fake beer, saluting her bottle toward Tim. “Happy birthday, brother,” she called. She leaned into Arizona’s side, the blonde’s hand still on her middle, her fingers stroking lightly over the fabric of her shirt. Their baby was sleeping under her partner’s hand, growing bigger every day. It was a happy, overwhelming thought. And soon, they would be telling everyone.

“Patience,” Arizona murmured into her hair, knowing exactly what she was thinking. “One more day.”


	21. Chapter 21

The dinner had been going well, but it didn’t stop Arizona’s knee from bouncing under the table. Callie was sitting at her side and she put a hand on her leg without looking away from her conversation with Barbara.

Aria was cracking up Tim and the Colonel while Alex and Teddy were discussing a case, leaving Arizona to quietly foster her anxiety.

“You want to do it now?” Callie whispered, leaning over to speak into her ear. It was sweet to remember that Arizona had been the one telling her to be patient yesterday.

Arizona jumped, eyes wide. “What?!”

Sensing her wife’s misunderstanding, Callie just smirked, shaking her head and kissing her cheek. “Do the talking thing, sweetheart,” she clarified. Arizona was clearly nervous and Callie couldn’t help kissing her face again. It was seriously cute to see her normally cheerful and confident partner so out of her depth. Not that she’d ever say that to her. “Do you want me to start?” Callie offered sweetly.

Arizona just blinked at her and Callie stood up, clinking her butter knife against the rim of her glass, again filled with water, to draw the attention of the table. “Hey, everybody,” she greeted them with a smile. “I don’t know if any of you suspect we have an ulterior motive for inviting you all here…”

“What’d you do?” Alex asked from his side of the table, chuckling.

“But you’d be right,” finished the Latina with a grin, Arizona standing up beside her to take her hand. “We have something we want to tell you all, and we wanted to get everyone together so we could do it the one time.”

Arizona cleared her throat and picked up the thread, “And we didn’t want to overshadow Timmy’s birthday…”

“As if you could!” he scoffed, toasting his sister with a laugh.

Dimples popped as she smiled at him, her eyes scanning both sides of the table. This was their family. And this was happy news. But she was still nervous as hell. Setting her eyes on Tim, he gave a comforting nod. His eyes were curious, almost knowing. He was the only one besides Addison that had even a hint that they were planning for kids. And she looked up to find the loving brown eyes that were her whole world. Callie gave her a nod, freeing her to say it however she wanted.

“Okay, here it goes,” Arizona said without looking away from Callie’s gaze. “We’re having a baby. Calliope is pregnant.” She heard the shocked breaths from her mother and Aria and Teddy, could already see the smile she knew was on Tim’s face. But she didn’t blink back the tears that welled in her eyes, just stared into Callie’s face, trying to drink in every detail of her expression at that moment. Because she was breathtaking. “I love you,” Arizona whispered, the hand that wasn’t holding Callie’s sliding across her face and into her hair to pull her into a short, soft kiss.

“I love you more,” answered Callie in the same tone. Arizona shook her head, dimples so deep on her cheeks it looked like they might never go away again. She would have sworn it was impossible, but the devotion and care that Arizona already gave their child made her love her more. And she had known from their first meeting that Arizona was beautiful and charming and smart and funny, but watching her love their unborn baby, it gave her whole new levels of appreciation and love for her wife. “Yes, I do,” Callie insisted lightly, cut off by another, longer kiss. It was still soft and sweet though.

Arizona finally blinked and the tears broke free, sliding slowly down her cheeks. “Well, then I love you both,” she whispered, adding, “more,” at the last second as she drew Callie into another kiss.

A throat clearing from the Colonel separated them, Callie arching a slow eyebrow in challenge at her wife before they turned to face the table again. Arizona’s hand slid over the invisible bump once before she faced her parents.

Barbara was crying and laughing and grinning, and even the Colonel looked emotional. “Arizona…” Without a pause, her mom rounded the table to hug them both, Tim grinning at his sister when she sent him a confused, panicky smile over their mother’s shoulder. “Callie…” The other woman was hauled with surprising strength into the embrace. “You’re having a baby?”

“Yes, Mom, we’re having a baby,” Arizona answered her, her own tone soft. “I know you didn’t expect it from me, but you’re going to be a grandmother. Okay?” she asked tenderly, leaning back to meet her mother’s teary eyes.

“Arizona, I am so happy for you both,” her mother promised her, eyes jumping between both faces. “Because I can see how happy you are, baby.” One hand stroked her daughter’s cheek. “I can see how much you both already love your baby.” She sighed happily, her other hand finding Callie’s face. “And everyone can see how much you two love each other. So you’re going to have a very lucky little one, being in the middle of so much love.”

Arizona was choked up, nodding and squeezing her mother’s hand against her face. “Thanks Mom,” she said hoarsely, Callie’s fingers winding through her free hand and she clung to her grip tightly.

“We love you,” Barbara told them with a smile, her expression making it clear where Arizona had gotten her own giddy, happy smile. “All of you.” She reached behind her and dragged her husband into the quiet conversation. “Say something, Daniel.”

“Congratulations,” the Colonel chimed in, offering each a handshake and then, when Tim cleared his throat and nodded toward them sharply, a hug.

Aria stood up next, but she just slugged Callie in the shoulder. “So you’re knocked up.” Her expression was unreadable, but she smiled abruptly. “Good going.”

Callie rolled her eyes and jerked her little sister into a hug, resisting the urge to use knuckles to ruin her hairdo. “I’m knocked up,” she confirmed. “And you’re going to be an aunt.”

The younger Torres considered that for a second, nodding. “I can work that,” she declared, kissing her sister on the cheek and laughing when Callie could just blink at her in surprise. “Hey, I’m happy for you.”

Tim stood up to hug both of them in a three person embrace, kissing each of them on the forehead. “Love you guys.” Arizona swallowed hard and tried to choke down her emotion, Tim grinning at Callie. “She was like this before your wedding too,” he said happily, Arizona aiming a blow toward his stomach that he easily dodged, breaking the tight confines of their hug.

Teddy eagerly offered hugs and called dibs on being godmother, while Alex gave them both a quick, awkward hug, scratched the back of his head, and took his seat back.

Barbara had been wrangled back into her chair by the Colonel, but was practically bouncing in her spot. “She’s already planning a baby shower in her head,” Arizona leaned over to whisper dryly, watching her mother. Callie just smiled. It was sweet how excited Barbara was. Almost as sweet as how excited Arizona was. “Alright, well, I’m sure you’ve all got some questions, so…” Arizona offered.

There was a clamor of voices from the women at the table and Callie interjected with a laugh, “One at a time.”

“When are you due?” was the first one that was understandable from the next surge of questions and Arizona fielded it.

“She’s two and a half months along, so the due date right now is set for early December.” It was actually December 7th, but there was no way in hell she was going to mention that to her father. Callie’s hand rubbed her thigh gently, offering quiet sympathy. She knew how much it had shocked Arizona to have the date her grandfather had died attached to their baby’s birth.

“Are you going to find out if it’s a girl or a boy?” Aria asked.

They glanced sideways at each other and Callie shook her head. “No, actually. We want a surprise. But Arizona says ‘she’ when she talks to the baby.” Barbara let out an almost involuntary squeak of excitement and Arizona narrowed her eyes at her wife, shaking her head slowly from side to side.

“Have you picked any names yet?” Teddy asked. “Because Theodora - it sucks. Avoid it,” she advised, the others laughing.

“Alex is good,” Karev chimed in. “And it works for either one.”

Still laughing, Arizona just shook her head. “We’ll take that into consideration, Karev. And, yeah, I know Tim is nice too,” she said before her brother could suggest it. “And Daniel, too, Dad. All of the possible family legacy names are being considered.”

“Little Arizona?” Tim joked, shooting his sister a wicked smirk.

“Okay, almost all the family legacy names are making the list,” she corrected herself. She respected her grandfather’s legacy, but she would never do that to another generation.

Callie laughed, clapping her hands in delight. “Little Arizona! I love it!”

Blue eyes just narrowed more sharply at her. “No,” Arizona declared flatly. “Calliope, no. If Little Arizona is in consideration, so is Little Calliope.” That succeeded in wiping the smirk off her face (though it made the one on Aria’s lips grow) and Arizona nodded in satisfaction. “That’s what I thought.”

“Did Addison help?” Teddy asked, familiar with the blonde’s friend and what she did for a living.

Glancing at each other, Arizona nodded and Callie spoke up, “Yeah, we went down to L.A. and they helped us out with everything.” They were being vague, but everyone knew the realities of their situation and didn’t push.

“When can we throw a baby shower?!” Barbara asked eagerly, changing the subject to what she really wanted to know.

Arizona just laughed. “Told you so.” The other women at the table started planning without them. “When she gets so happy that she kisses you, you have no one but yourself to blame,” she advised under her breath. “And I won’t protect you from it either.”

Callie smiled, kissing Arizona herself. “You’d really let your mom lay one on me?”

Blue eyes blinked and she shook her head. “Okay, gross, no, I wouldn’t. And do you really have to tell everybody that I’m…”

“A sweet, dorky mom?” Callie finished, lightly teasing her. “Yes, because I love it, Arizona. And you’ll be a sweet, dorky mom out in public in about six months.” Arizona rolled her eyes, grimacing. This was going to be a long pregnancy… “Hey,” Callie called her attention back to her softly. “I know I have to be disgusting to you right now. But I’m happy. I have you. And you’re giving me my dream. I’m having a baby with the woman I love. So I’m so, so happy. But I’m sorry if it’s making you want to puke.”

Arizona nodded, smiling. “I’m just not a baby shower person. It’s okay…”

“How about this? Whenever we have the baby shower, whenever it is, after that we’ll go away for the weekend or something, okay? Just the two of us, and we’ll do whatever you want to do for a few days,” Callie offered.

Her smile became more natural and she slid her hand back to Callie’s stomach, her other arm sliding across the back of Callie’s chair. “And I have to come to the baby shower?” she checked.

“Yes!” Callie rolled her eyes. “You have to come to the baby shower and play all the stupid games and help open all the little presents. And you have permission to hate me during the whole thing,” she promised with a smile.

“But then I get to take you away for the weekend?”

“Yes,” the brunette sighed, watching Arizona’s smile grow.

“Okay, I’m in,” she agreed finally. “And I’ll try not to rain on your parade too much.”

Callie’s eyebrow rose slowly. “Thank you.” She leaned forward for a soft kiss. “But you were already in. I’m not raising this baby by myself!”

Arizona nipped her lip in rebuke. “That’s not what I meant and you know it! You’re absolutely not raising this baby without me.” Another kiss, keeping it chaste in front of their friends and family. But she couldn’t just not kiss her. Because as happy as Callie was, so was she. They were in love, married, and having a baby.

“One other thing,” Callie whispered as they separated. “You’re being great with the baby shower stuff, and dealing with my need for coffee, and the emotional stuff…”

“What more could you possibly want from me?” Arizona joked, rubbing her hand across the back of her wife’s shoulders.

Callie smirked at the teasing, eyebrow rising. “How about another exchange?”

Intrigued, Arizona hummed in consideration. “What’ve you got in mind, Calliope?” It was a joke and they both knew it. She would do anything for Callie - including pasting on a smile and sitting through what was sure to be more than one baby shower.

“Foot rubs for sexual favors,” Callie proposed simply, enjoying the way Arizona’s blue eyes instantly went wide. “My feet are killing me…”

“Deal, deal, deal, deal,” the blonde chattered, dragging her in for another kiss. “And just for the record, I wanted us to go to L.A. in a few weeks and see Addison, tell her about the baby, and I don’t think that that…”

“That won’t count as your weekend away,” she promised, rolling her eyes. Arizona just grinned. It might be a long pregnancy and she might feel entirely out of her comfort zone for the next six months, but she was doing all of this with Callie. Then the baby would be there and they would both be out of their comfort zone.

She kind of couldn’t wait…


	22. Chapter 22

Callie knew that she was overeager and kind of insane and that it was driving Arizona crazy, but she just couldn’t help herself. She just pretended not to notice the blonde’s huffs and sighs from the side wall while she directed Tim, Alex, and Mark in setting up tables for her latest baby shower.

Barbara had thrown one for them with all of Arizona’s aunts and girl cousins, and Arizona had kept her game face on and ridden out the two hours of girly, squealing, giggly festivities. But Callie had wanted one at work with their friends and Teddy had backed her up and here they were setting up what Arizona desperately hoped was the last one. She had a feeling that their friends could come up with more humiliating games she’d have to play than her relatives had come up with.

So she kept quiet and tried to stick close to the wall. Because she did not want anyone thinking that it was okay to shove a balloon up her shirt, damn it! Callie glanced her way and she quickly mustered a smile for her benefit. If anything at these stupid parties (had Callie really just said ‘scrapbook station?’) could make her smile (onesie decorating? Seriously?), it was the sight of her visibly pregnant wife. They were a month past the halfway marker and Callie was glowing.

“Babe, have you seen the tablecloths for these long tables?” Callie was rooting through a shopping bag without success. “I can’t find them.”

Arizona shook her head. “No, I haven’t seen them. I’ll go look in the lockers, okay?” she volunteered willingly, anything to get out of the party zone. She was the one who preferred pastels and pink, but that room was making her rethink things. Maybe they should repaint the house… Callie had remarked more than once about living in an Easter basket.

Sending her a knowing look, Callie smirked. “Great, baby, thank you.”

Arizona blew her a kiss and was out the door at slightly less than a run.

Finding the tablecloths she’d been sent in search of in the bottom of Callie’s locker, Arizona opted to take the long way back to the party preparations. And maybe she’d find someone who was invited and she could remind them about it, she mentally justified herself. A call from the nurses’ station as she cut through the lobby was another delay and she wheeled over.

“Dr. Robbins, this guy says he’s here looking for Dr. Torres,” the woman on the other side of the counter told her, gesturing to an older Hispanic man who lingered at the far end of the desk. “Should I page her, or…?”

It wasn’t too hard to figure out that he was most likely Callie’s father and Arizona mentally cursed. And then she cursed aloud, muttering, “Shit,” under her breath as she dug her phone out of her lab coat and sent a text to Callie. “Okay, thanks, Denise, I got this.”

Of course Calliope’s father would show up on the day of her baby shower. And on a day when she was undeniably pregnant. Shit, shit, shit… Impatient with waiting for Callie to respond to the text, she thumbed the screen to call her.

“Arizona, hey, did you find those tablecloths?”

Glancing at the man who still hadn’t turned to see her, Arizona kept her voice down, “Yeah, I’ve got them…”

“Great, well, get your cute butt back here with them, okay?” Callie requested cheerfully. She was so happy about her baby shower and that was all about to blow to hell. Damn it.

“Callie…”

Her shortened name got her attention and she finally focused on the serious tone in her partner’s voice. “What’s going on?”

Arizona cleared her throat nervously. “Listen, Calliope, there’s a man here at the lobby desk… I think it’s your father.” There was a stupefied silence on the other side of the phone and Arizona could hear Tim’s voice in the background. 

Then there was a strange noise and fumbling on the phone and he was speaking into her ear, “Arizona? Is that you?”

“Tim, what happened?” Arizona demanded, forgetting to keep her voice down.

“You tell me,” he answered, voice strained. “Callie just fainted.” Hearing his sister’s shocked gasp, he continued quickly, “Don’t worry, me and Mark caught her before she hit the floor, but what the hell? Where are you?”

Shaking her head, Arizona was already moving. “I’m on my way. Tell Sloan or Karev to get a wheelchair or a stretcher and get her into it. I’ll be right there.” Forgetting about the pair of plastic tablecloths she had pinned under her arm, she dashed right past the presumed Mr. Torres and pounded on the elevator button before thinking better of the wait and ran for the stairs, taking them two at a time.

Skidding through the doorway of the doctor’s lounge they’d commandeered for the shower, Arizona almost fell herself as her wheel caught traction at an inopportune time and sent her stumbling into the doorframe. The men had just lifted a protesting Callie into a chair and Arizona was across the room in a heartbeat, kneeling in front of her. “Calliope…”

“We’re okay,” she was already insisting, though she didn’t stop Arizona from stroking a hand over her rounded belly. There was a reassuring kick against her touch and their eyes met. The baby always knew when it was Arizona’s hand touching them and would move for her. And at night, the little one wouldn’t settle down until Arizona talked to Callie’s belly for a few minutes.

“You fainted?” Arizona breathed, reassured but still anxious.

Callie leaned her head back to look up at Tim and Mark, both still lingering close. “I didn’t even touch the floor,” she promised. “Thanks to you guys.”

Tim just winked, one hand resting on her shoulder for a second before he crossed his arms over his chest. “No problem, Torres,” Mark added, looking surprised when Arizona shot to her feet to kiss his cheek. Tim and Callie just exchanged amused looks. Mark could be a flirt, but for the most part he was a nice guy. Arizona only really warmed up to him when he’d done something to help Callie and that marked the second time that she’d ever kissed him on the cheek.

“Hey, where’s mine?” Callie requested, stubbornly standing up from the wheelchair. Arizona glared but gave her a soft kiss. “Now, did you say that my dad’s here?”

Swallowing hard at the reminder, the new arrival pushed completely out of her head as soon as Callie had fainted, Arizona nodded hesitantly. “I don’t know for sure, but the nurse said he was here looking for you and he definitely looks like a relative. Same height as you, white hair, bald on top, and he has a beard and a mustache?” she described him briefly.

Callie sighed, glancing from Arizona down at her clearly pregnant stomach. “That’s him.”

“What do you want to do, sweetheart?” Arizona asked after an extended quiet moment, the guys scattering to their tasks. Tim snuck away with the abandoned tablecloths to set up the onesie decorating station. Alex was already drawing something on a scrapbook page and Mark went to look, offering a purple glitter pen after a glance at his drawing. Alex considered it, glancing between his page and the pen, finally taking it while Mark took the rest of the supplies to help Tim.

Taking a shuddering breath, Callie looked back up at Arizona. “I guess I should talk to him, right?”

“Calliope, I will go back down there and tell him to leave if you don’t want to talk to him,” Arizona offered. “Today’s your baby shower. And it’s going to be awesome…”

That got a small smile. “You’re such a liar,” Callie whispered. “I know you’re just doing it for me.”

“Going to a baby shower is the least of what I would do for you,” declared the blonde firmly, her expression making it clear that she was serious. “And if you don’t want to see your father today, I will go tell him that. Or if you do, I will go down there with you. Or we can send Tim to beat him up…”

The Marine looked up at the sound of his name. “What? I’m beating somebody up?”

“Possibly,” Arizona said without looking away from Callie’s face, both of them smiling now. “You good with that?”

“Just point me at ‘em,” he said, shrugging broad shoulders.

Mark cleared his throat from the other side of the table. “Um, not making a suggestion, just checking, but it’s not me, is it?” Tim looked up from organizing again to grin at the other man. They were nearly the same size, each in good shape, but Tim just eyed him as though he wouldn’t blink twice about twisting the Plastic surgeon into a pretzel if his sister or Callie asked it of him.

“No, Mark,” Callie answered, rolling her eyes and making Arizona’s dimples spring into view. “And Tim, you don’t have to beat anybody up. I appreciate that you would though.”

“Whatever you want, Cal,” he agreed easily, going back to sorting the paint pens on the table.

“It’s whatever you want, Calliope,” Arizona echoed, taking both of her wife’s hands and brushing her fingers across the bare spot where her wedding rings normally lived. Occasionally swollen fingers meant that for the duration of the pregnancy, they were living on the silver heart necklace Arizona had given her a few months after they’d gotten engaged.

Callie grimaced at the reminder that she couldn’t wear her ring and couldn’t help glancing down to catch sight of them on the chain around her neck. “I do want to see him, talk to him,” she declared softly. Nothing fostered the feeling of reaching out to family quite like having a child of her own on the way. “But not today. We’re having a party and he’s not going to… understand this.” She glanced again at her belly. “Maybe we could meet with him tomorrow?”

Nodding immediately, Arizona squeezed her hands gently, taking a step closer so that the bump of their child pressed into her own abdomen. The baby kicked her again and she smiled helplessly. “You know, with all this kicking at me, I’m kind of scared for when she gets out of there,” she commented teasingly, voice a quiet whisper.

“She just likes you better than me,” Callie countered, smile growing at Arizona’s instant scoff of denial.

“Bull, Calliope…” Leaning in, they kissed softly for a second. “I’ll go tell your dad that you’re busy, okay?” She took a step back and hesitated, their hands still linked. “Who should I tell him that I am? Nameless helpful person?”

Callie’s frown was instantaneous. “You better not! You are my wife and the mother of my child,” she stated. Her expression softened at the soft smile that declaration put on Arizona’s face. “I told him about you, Arizona. When I saw him in Miami. I told him I was with a smart, perky, funny, beautiful, blonde kid surgeon.”

“What about the baby? Do I tell him, or…?”

Considering, Callie chewed on her bottom lip. “Not yet. If he sticks around to talk to us, we’ll tell him together tomorrow.”

Nodding, Arizona swallowed again, starting to feel nervous. But better she do this than have Callie do it and ruin her baby shower and risk fainting again when the men weren’t there to help catch her. “Okay,” she pulled Callie’s hands to her mouth to kiss the backs of them. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” Callie echoed.

As she was leaving the lounge, Arizona had to dodge the first of their guests, some hyper fifth year putting a plastic tiara on her head before she could avoid it. A glance behind her at Callie got her no sympathy, the Latina grinning happily and clasping both hands to her chest.

Pulling it out of her hair as she went back down the stairs, she tucked the plastic crown in the pocket of her lab coat carefully, sure she wouldn’t get away with ‘losing’ it while she was gone on her errand. She gathered her nerve as she jogged back down the stairs, wanting to make this as quick a trip as possible.

Mr. Torres was looking at something on his phone, but he looked up when Arizona stopped in front of him. “Hello, Mr. Torres. I’m Arizona Robbins…”

“You’re dating my daughter,” he finished for her, looking uncomfortable with the announcement.

He certainly wasn’t going to like the news of their change in marital status, then. “Actually, sir, we got married.” His expression flickered, but he hesitantly shook the hand she offered. “And I told Calliope you were here, but she’s busy with something right now. She was hoping you’d be free to talk tomorrow?”

Surveying her, Mr. Torres nodded brusquely. “I believe I saw a bar across the street?”

“Yes sir,” Arizona confirmed. “We’d be happy to meet you there whenever you’d like.” The plural was intentional - whatever Callie faced here, she would be at her side.

“Noon?”

“Yes sir,” she repeated herself. “See you then, sir.” Leaving him to watch her walk away, she didn’t look back. His disapproval was not allowed to break them. They were happy. They were having a baby. But she found herself already defensive in spite of the reassurances. She wished she could protect Callie from the potential heartache this meeting could bring her.

Pushing it out of her head as much as she could, she fished the tiara out of her pocket and slapped it back on top of her head, mustering her happy, expectant parent smile. Because she really was eager to be a parent with Calliope. She just didn’t love the baby shower aspect of it.

But she knew how much Callie wanted this, and she loved her wife, so she didn’t let the smile slip when she reentered the party to find the guests winding a tape measure around a twirling Callie. She did try and cling to the wall, but Tim betrayed her, pushing her into the center of the room and calling, “Look at who I found!”

Shooting him a glare over her shoulder and hissing, “Traitor,” at him, Arizona stumbled forward and mustered another grin for Callie. “Having fun?” she asked lightly, arching an eyebrow at her.

“Yes!” Callie glanced down at the measuring tape around her. “But don’t look at that,” she requested. “I don’t want you seeing how big I am!”

Arizona laughed, relieved that Callie was still having a good time. “I’m at all your doctor’s appointments, Calliope. I know how big you are.”

Callie pouted abruptly. “Can’t you pretend that you don’t know how fat I am?”

Laughing, Arizona slipped a hand over her stomach. “You are not fat, baby. You’re having our baby.” She checked the tape measure and raised her voice to announce, “And whoever had thirty-six, you win.”

“Ari-zona,” whined Callie, grumping at her.

The blonde just smiled, shaking her head. “Don’t make that face at me,” she requested cheerfully. “You are most definitely not fat. You are gorgeous, and sexy, and I absolutely cannot get enough of you,” she promised, still touching her stomach.

“Yeah?” Callie asked, pleading for reassurance.

“Definitely,” promised Arizona earnestly and immediately. The look in her eyes told the truth. She was attracted to her wife. It was that simple. She wanted her. The fact that she was carrying their baby didn’t change anything. If anything, it made her more beautiful. “Calliope, you are stunning.”

“It’s Arizona’s turn now!” Tim called, drawing a malevolent glare from his sister as he came forward with a balloon for her to stuff under her scrub top. He handed it off to her with a grin and straightened her tiara when Arizona turned to try and get support from Callie.

She just shook her head, smiling. “You’re a mother too, Arizona. Play the game. I wouldn’t want to keep all the fun for myself!”

Rolling her eyes, Arizona stuffed the helium balloon underneath her scrub top and let Meredith Grey wrap the tape measure around her enhanced waistline. Callie just kept grinning, clapping happily at the sight of her humiliation. “You’re so lucky I love you, Calliope,” the blonde grumbled, seizing the collar of her partner’s blouse and hauling her in for a kiss. The added complications of two bumps in the middle made it a bit of a fumbling dance and someone snapped a picture.

Tim eagerly took up the guesses at Arizona’s girth, happily offering Callie a piece of paper and a pen. “What’s the damage?” he asked Meredith entirely too gleefully.

“Thirty-eight!” she announced, vacating Arizona’s area without wasting time. Everyone knew how Arizona felt about the baby shower.

Arizona sent Callie an exaggerated smile. “See? Who’s fat here?” she joked, gesturing between them.

The games stopped in favor of presents, much to Arizona’s relief, and she wandered the room, looking at the onesies their friends had made them. Yang had drawn an anatomically accurate heart on hers, while Meredith had made what appeared to be a black hole on her own. Alex was busy coloring in blue scrubs on his and he gave her a sheepish grin. “I like it,” she offered her approval.

By far her favorite was the one Tim had made that said ‘I love my mommies’ on the front with a neat red heart in the middle.


	23. Chapter 23

Callie was cursing Arizona’s polite promptness as well as her own inability to drink almost equally as they waited in the bar for her father. Joe had started to offer her a sympathetic shot, but at Arizona’s sharp glance he drank it himself.

The bar was mostly empty, Joe having just opened for the day, and they all heard the doors at the top of stairs open to admit Carlos, Callie taking a seat at the table at the last second. She wanted to tell her father everything, talk to him if she could, but stunning him with the news that she was only a few months away from having a baby wasn’t the best way she could think of to get things started.

Carlos froze just inside the room, staring at her for a long moment before joining them at the table. “May I sit?”

“Please.” Callie nodded, gesturing toward the other side of the booth. She was calm and collected, in control. This was Dr. Torres at her most professional. And they hadn’t talked about expectations or how they were going to deal with this entire meeting, but the professional mask wasn’t a surprise.

“Would you like a drink, sir?” asked Arizona politely, following Callie’s lead of quiet calm.

“They have really good burgers here,” Callie added with a tiny smile. Her father had always appreciated a good burger.

Nodding, Carlos managed his own smile. “That would be lovely. Just water to drink, though.”

“Be right back, then.” Arizona slipped out of the booth with a squeeze to Callie’s hand and crossed to the bar.

There was an extended silence, Callie and her father just looking at each other. He looked the same as ever, the same lines around his eyes that crinkled when he would smile, the same neatly trimmed beard, only the look in his eyes was different. The last time she’d seen him in the airport, they’d been too shocked at the random encounter to really talk, but the last time she’d seen him at home his eyes had been harsh, hurt, and hard.

Now he was softer, searching her face. She couldn’t help wondering if she looked different to him. It had been years. And she was a different person than she’d been in Miami. She was happy now, for one thing. And finally stable, comfortable with who she was and with the life she was living. Not lonely and desperate and marrying a guy she’d only dated for a few months, but in a healthy, loving, committed relationship with an amazing woman.

“You look well, Calliope,” Carlos murmured, the same thing he’d said to her in Miami before they’d parted ways at the airport years earlier.

Smiling almost shyly, Callie ducked her head, hand under the table stroking her stomach. “Thank you, Dad. We’re doing very well.” Her life was irrevocably tied to Arizona and there would be no sign of anything else.

“Mija, I don’t want it to be like this with us,” he said on a sigh. “I just don’t know how to talk to you, what to say…”

“Dad, I’m not an entirely new person, here. I’ve just got something new in my life, something you don’t understand, really. But I’m the exact same person I’ve always been,” Callie said patiently, strangely comforted by touching her bump. Outside of not telling Arizona about George sooner, she’d had no regrets since coming to Seattle. “You can talk to me.”

Arizona returned with their drinks then, sliding back onto the bench with Callie. She stayed quiet, though. Unless Callie needed her to speak up, her role was strictly moral support.

Clearing his throat, Carlos took a sip of his drink, clearly nervous but trying not to be. “So, Dr. Robbins tells me that you’re married.”

“Yes, we are. So you can call her Arizona, Dad,” Callie gently reminded him, amused in spite of her anxiety. She wasn’t doing this for herself. Her reason was under her hand. Their baby deserved everything. And if a little emotional risk here would get their child their grandfather back, she would do it.

“Ahh, yes, like the state…”

“Actually, sir, I was named for the battleship,” Arizona interjected lightly. “My grandfather died at Pearl Harbor.” Callie slid a comforting hand across to the blonde’s knee, leaving the support of their baby to offer some to Arizona. Even if she hadn’t said anything, Callie knew having the baby’s due date on that day was bothering her too.

“I’m very sorry,” Carlos offered. “Arizona…”

“Thank you for that, sir.” Arizona leaned back against the bench and was content to be quiet unless spoken to. She did leave her left hand on her leg, knowing Callie would take it if she needed to hold onto her.

Carlos looked a bit uncomfortable with the silence and Callie cleared her throat lightly. “What are you doing here, Dad? It’s been years. And you don’t agree with a pretty big part of my life…”

“Your sister Aria told me that I wouldn’t regret meeting your Dr. Robbins,” Carlos said. Of course Aria would have something to do with this. He smiled and it made him look almost shy. “She’s been quite insistent on the subject, actually. We haven’t spoken lately that the pair of you haven’t come up,” he said with a glance at each of them, exhaling as his eyes settled on Callie. “And I missed you, Calliope. You’re my little girl.”

“I wasn’t your little girl when you cut me off from my own family,” Callie shot back, losing her professional cool for a moment. Without even realizing it, her hand slipped into Arizona’s on her leg, lacing their fingers so she could nudge her wedding rings back and forth. “You say you miss me, but what do you expect from me here, Dad? Do you expect me to give up my wife, my family, our family, to get a spot back in a family that abandoned me?!”

“No, mija. I just wanted to see you, that’s all. You’re my daughter,” answered Carlos. Callie moved their hands to where their baby was. “But you’re right - I haven’t supported your choices and I hope it’s not too late for you to give me a chance, Calliope. All a parent wants for their child is for them to be healthy and happy and safe.”

Callie swallowed hard, glancing helplessly at Arizona. That was their biggest worry now too, the health and happiness of their baby. “I can appreciate that, Dad, more than you know, but it’s not so simple…”

Arizona gave her a supportive nod, willing to back whatever she decided to do. And she was happy that her father was finally starting to come around, but she had her own, well earned, reservations after her previous betrayals and abandonment. She wouldn’t let anyone, even her own father, do that to her child if she could stop it. Meeting loving blue eyes, she got another nod from Arizona and she mustered her nerve.

“Dad, you really don’t know what it means to me that you’re here, talking like this, but there’s something else you need to know…” Callie started slowly, waiting for a nod from her father before she continued. “I really am glad to see you, and I hope you can realize that loving women, loving Arizona, hasn’t changed me, but just made me better, she makes me better, happier than I’ve ever been in my life,” Arizona smiled at her lap, squeezing her fingers gently, “But we’ve got something we need to tell you before you decide if you can be in our life or not.”

“Calliope…”

“Dad, we’re having a baby,” Callie cut him off gently, watching his blue eyes flicker between the pair of them. “I’m pregnant.” He blinked but didn’t say anything and Callie held her breath for a second, waiting for him to leave the booth and go up the stairs and back out of her life.

Clearing her throat, Arizona spoke up softly, “And we’d like for you to be a part of their life, but if this isn’t something you can deal with, you need to decide now. We can’t have you walking out on our baby somewhere down the line.” Even quiet and respectful in tone, it was clear that it wasn’t a discussion. There was no bargaining when it came to their child.

However, if the look on his face was being interpreted correctly, he was already instantly entranced by the idea of being a grandfather. That couldn’t be all he was, though. If he wanted to be part of the baby’s life, if he wanted to be a grandpa, he needed to be a father first. Callie deserved better than that from her dad.

“Calliope…” Her name never sounded right from anyone but Arizona. “A baby? When did - how long…?”

“I’m due in a few months,” Callie answered him, still cautious. He was taking this better than she’d expected, but last time she’d expected understanding from him she’d been sorely disappointed.

“A girl or a boy?”

“We don’t know,” she said. “We’re going to be surprised.”

“Can I…?” he hesitated, “Could I see you? Would you?” He gestured toward the edge of the table.

“Stand up?” Callie checked.

“I’d like to look at you.”

Arizona promptly slid off the outside of the booth, waving at Joe when he signaled that their lunch was ready. Callie sent her a nervous smile, but the blonde was looking at her the way she always looked at her and the nerves eased. No matter what her father thought, Arizona loved her. And Arizona thought she was beautiful.

Squeezing their laced fingers, Arizona just pressed a kiss to her cheek. Calliope was stunning. The baby had only added to her partner’s luscious curves and she loved it. “You’re incredible,” she whispered, smiling when their eyes met. “Miraculous,” she continued. “I can’t stop looking at you.”

“Suck up,” Callie returned with a joke to keep herself from tearing up. These hormones were completely wrecking her badass, hardcore persona. But she had never had to be that person with Arizona. And even if she was a weepy mess now, Arizona still looked at her like that, the way she was looking at her currently.

“No, Calliope, she’s right,” Carlos interjected softly. “You’re beautiful.” His eyes were hazy with tears and he blinked them back.

Joe brought their plates to the table and Arizona ushered Callie back into her seat, the brunette unable to help a smile at her wife’s protective instincts. She loved this woman more than anything.

There was a quiet minute as Carlos prayed silently over his food and Arizona was the first to speak, “So, Mr. Torres, what are you thinking?”

His eyes scanned her face for a second before moving to Callie and lingering on her. “I think that I’ve missed a lot of my daughter’s life. I don’t want to miss my grandchild’s life.” Carlos took a breath. “You have every right not to trust me, I see that. But, Calliope, I’d like to talk. We used to talk every Sunday. And even when you were in trouble, you’d still call. Perhaps we could start there?”

Callie nodded slowly. “I’d like that.” It was a start, but she had no expectations that this would lead to a reconciliation. It had been years and she had a new life now, one not tied to her father’s approval. She had Arizona and their baby, their friends and family. She didn’t need more than that.

“Are you happy?” he asked, knowing the answer before she could say it. It was all over her face.

“Dad, yes! We’re very happy,” she answered him anyway. Her eyes found Arizona beside her. “She makes me very happy.”

“I love your daughter,” Arizona said softly. “And I protect the things I love. But I don’t need to. She doesn’t need it. She’s strong and caring and honorable. She’s who you raised her to be. So thank you. Because you raised a wonderful, amazing woman.”

Unable to deny the emotions choking her but still not wanting to cry, Callie leaned her head over onto Arizona’s shoulder, the blonde wrapping an arm around her. “I feel like I should call your dad and tell him how awesome you are now,” she whispered, joking again to keep the tears at bay.

“Calliope, I have always been this awesome,” Arizona teased, laughing when Callie’s stomach grumbled. “Feed our baby, baby,” she said, turning her head to kiss the top of her head before Callie sat back up straight.

Carlos was watching their interaction quietly, a small smile on his lips. “Excuse us, Dad,” murmured Callie, deliberately stealing a fry from Arizona’s plate, grinning when her wife sent her a familiar look, the same one she got when she stole food from her in the cafeteria at lunch. “Let’s eat.”

While they ate, they chatted, keeping the topics light and casual. By the end of the meal, they were all laughing together as Carlos told them about Callie’s first attempt at riding a bike which had resulted in a broken fence and a broken wrist. Of course, the young Calliope had scorned training wheels.

“We’re in for trouble, aren’t we?” Arizona asked hypothetically, chuckling. She stroked her palm across Callie’s belly, smiling happily when the baby kicked her hand. “Hey you, you need to have mercy on us, kiddo,” she told the little one, rubbing across Callie’s stomach gently and getting a flurry of kicks in reaction. “I think that’s a ‘no,’ Mami,” she said, smiling up at Callie.

The Latina smiled back at her, shifting in her spot. “Well, you get her so worked up,” she teased. “And she kicks me nonstop.” She laughed, pushing lightly at her wife’s shoulder with one hand. “And now I have to go to the bathroom.”

“Sorry, babe,” Arizona said with a quick grin, slipping off the booth bench. She pulled her hand back swiftly, leaning over to talk to Callie’s belly again as she moved to stand up. “Stop kicking your Mami, baby,” she requested sweetly, Callie sighing in relief.

“I don’t know how you do that, but I’m insanely jealous,” she said, pushing up on the table to get to her feet while the little one inside of her settled down again.

Arizona watched her go, sitting down on the edge of the bench. “Your parents,” Carlos started slowly, drawing her eyes, “they’re okay with all of this?”

Considering him, Arizona nodded. “Yes, sir. They’re great. And they love Callie.” She laughed. “She and my mom usually talk every week, but I think they’re up to every other day since we told her about the baby.”

The older man sighed heavily, fidgeting with the napkin beside his plate. “I wish she would have called me… I understand why she didn’t, but I wish she would have called…”

Arizona was quiet for a long moment, turning on the seat to face him fully. “Sir, I know she’s your daughter and that you love her, but she’s my wife and I love her too, so I need to say something to you.” He gave her a prompting nod. “I’m glad you want to know your grandchild, really I am, but if you’re just getting back into Callie’s life for the baby, then that’s really not fair to Callie. Because she says she can handle it if you cut her off again, and she probably can, but she shouldn’t have to. And she shouldn’t have to take you back just because you want to be a grandfather. You need to be her father again too, or I’m sorry, but I can’t have you in our life. That means you have to try, or you need to leave, right now.”

Blue eyes locked and he studied her silently for a moment. “Everything Aria told me about you is true. You’re exactly how she said you were. And she told us that you are good for Calliope, that the two of you are happy together. You really love her, don’t you?”

“With everything that I have,” Arizona answered without the slightest glimmer of doubt or self-consciousness. Loving Calliope Torres was simple. She did it with every breath she took and every heartbeat. “And I love our baby. And I know what it feels like to almost lose them both and it’s not something I ever want to go through again. And, sir, I think you know that you’ll regret it if you walk away from her again.”

“I regret letting her walk away the first time,” he acknowledged. “And I think it will take time for me to understand the changes that have happened in her life. But I’m here asking for a chance to try. I love my daughter, Arizona.” He breathed deeply again. “Pride makes fools of us all. It’s just hard for me. I was always the one to catch her. Now I can see that it’s you. You’re the one that she counts on not to let her fall.”

Arizona shifted her hip on the bench and fished her phone out of her back pocket, pulling up the pictures. “Here,” she offered, holding it out to him. “There’s pictures of the ultrasounds and just keep scrolling to the right and there’s more pictures. They’re pretty much all of her,” she said with a smile. “So you can see the last year or two at least.”

He eagerly took it, looking at the last six months worth of ultrasounds she had saved snaps of on her phone, interspersed with pictures of Callie playing softball, Callie in her scrubs, the two of them in the woods the one and only time they’d gone hiking after Tim had convinced them it would be fun (the highlight of the trip had been when Callie had kissed her cheek just as the camera flashed), Callie cooking with Tim, and Callie at the airport before she’d left for Africa. The picture he stopped on was one she’d had Tim send her from his phone of the two of them in their wedding dresses dancing at the reception. She’d gotten a new phone since the wedding, but she needed that picture with her all the time, so she’d made him forward it to her.

“She was a beautiful bride,” he said, hesitating to hand her phone back across the table.

“She’s still a beautiful bride,” Arizona agreed, dimples framing her soft smile. Neither one noticed that Callie had long since left the bathroom and was sitting at the bar and watching them interact. Arizona did notice his hesitation to give up her phone and she suggested, “Put your number in and I’ll send you whichever ones you’d like. Or write down your email and we can send you more that way. We practically filled up the memory card in the camera between the rehearsal dinner and the wedding.”

He nodded, swallowing back his emotion as he took a final long look at their wedding picture. “Thank you,” he said, his voice hoarse. “You didn’t have to be so gracious with me, but I appreciate it.” Sliding her phone back to her, he gratefully accepted the pen she offered and jotted down his email address on a square bar napkin. “Did she…” He had to pause, gather himself. “Did she have anyone, at the wedding?”

Sympathetic at the obvious heartbreak he felt over missing it, Arizona covered his hand soothingly. “She did. Aria was there and she stood up with Calliope during the ceremony. And my mom helped her get ready. And my brother walked her down the aisle.” He cleared his throat, blinking at the tabletop, and she squeezed his hand lightly. “I can send you a copy of the ceremony too. We’ve got the video.”

Both of them looked up in surprise when Callie made her return to the table, taking the seat beside her father and smiling across the table at her wife. “I haven’t been alone, Dad. Not since I came here. I met Arizona the first day I was in Seattle. And I’ve never been alone since then. We have friends here, family.”

“My family likes her better than they like me,” Arizona chimed in jokingly, smirking at the look Callie sent her.

“No, they do not…”

Arizona winked and agreed sarcastically, “Sure, they don’t, babe. You’re totally right…” When Carlos smiled at her, she mouthed, “Yes, they do,” behind a cupped hand.

“Arizona…” Callie started warningly.

The blonde dropped her hand and endeavored to mock innocence. “Yes, darling?”

Rolling her eyes, Callie turned her gaze back to her father. “Thank you, Dad,” she sighed, grateful when he opened his arms and offered a hug.

“I love you, mija,” he whispered.

“I love you too,” she echoed. “And I’m so glad that you came.”

“I’m sorry I was so stubborn, that I missed so much.” He pulled back to meet her eyes. “You’ll call this time, about the baby?”

Callie smiled, nodding her head. “I’ll call on Sunday once we get home,” she promised as well. “I promised Arizona a weekend away after she sat through another baby shower,” she said, lightly teasing her partner.

“Hey, Tim made me play that game and shoved a balloon up my shirt!” Arizona insisted, having completely forgotten about their deal in the suddenness of Carlos’ arrival. “I let Meredith measure my waist and then announce it in public! And I watched Karev draw tiny scrubs - you know, actually, that was cute! I still deserve a weekend away though!”

Mr. Torres kissed Callie’s cheek lightly. “Well, I won’t keep you then.” 

He started to move when Callie did, but she stopped abruptly and grabbed his hand on the bench. “Here, the baby’s kicking.” She guided his hand to the top of her stomach, enjoying the wide-eyed fascination on his face. Maybe letting him in again wouldn’t turn out so bad, she decided to herself. And if he couldn’t handle this, she still had Arizona and their child. And like Arizona reminded her all the time, they had so many people that loved them.

*****

Waking up gradually, the first thing Callie became aware of was her stiff neck. It hurt, popping when she moved. The next was the sound of steady, fast beeping somewhere around her. It reminded her of the heart monitors at the hospital. But they weren’t at the hospital. They were on vacation, going on a last quick trip before they became parents, their lives shared with a baby. So that sound was wildly out of place and she shot up, her hands already on her rounded belly.

She was okay though, feeling the reassuring movement under her hand. Her baby was okay, still safe inside her. But the beeping was still going… She lifted her head and jumped as she realized that she was still in their car, the front end of which was only feet away from the back of a tractor trailer. How had they stopped that short and she’d slept through it? And what the hell was that noise?

Turning her head, she got her answer, the driver’s door hanging open with the keys still in the ignition. The seat behind the wheel, Arizona’s seat, was empty though and she suddenly realized that she could hear her wife shouting even over the steady beeps. Reaching across the vehicle, she twisted the keys and pulled them out of the slot to stop the racket, looking over her shoulder for Arizona.

Climbing out of the car, she tried to go around behind it only to find that another vehicle’s bumper was scant inches from their own. Rather than climb across the hood in her condition, she returned and crossed in front of their car, spotting Arizona with her finger in the next car’s driver’s face as she yelled recriminations at him. Callie could hear the word ‘baby’ more than once and she rubbed her stomach unconsciously.

“Arizona…” The blonde turned at the sound of her name, though her eyes were wide. “What’s going on?” Callie asked, keeping her voice mild. Clearly her wife was panicked by their near accident and was lashing out.

The Peds surgeon’s arm waved at the berated man in front of her, Arizona growling, “This complete jack,” Callie cleared her throat to cover the rest, giving her a look, “hit us!” She swung her arm the other way, pointing up the road where the eighteen-wheeler was abandoned in the road. “Because this braincase’s transmission went out and he thought the best place to leave it would be the middle of a curve on the side of a mountain!”

Callie caught her shoulders with both hands, thumbs sliding across the sides of her neck. Her pulse was racing under her touch. “Okay, well, it doesn’t look like there’s any damage,” she reminded her gently. “And we’re all fine here, right?” she checked with the man, who nodded quickly, giving her a grateful look. “Okay, so there’s no reason to yell, sweetheart.” Arizona’s mouth fell open to protest that she had a million reasons to yell, but Callie shook her head. “Come on, let’s walk up and see if we can go around the truck and we’ll just keep going,” she coaxed, pulling Arizona along by the hand to make it clear it was an order rather than just a suggestion.

Once they were past their own car, Callie pushing the door closed on their way, Arizona took a deep breath, releasing some of her tension. “Callie…”

“We’re okay,” she interjected, knowing how upset Arizona was by the name she’d used. “It’s okay.”

“He could have killed you! Killed our…” she choked, couldn’t say it. “Anything could have happened!”

Callie squeezed her hand, rubbing her thumb across the blonde’s knuckles. Pulling on her hand, she pressed Arizona’s palm to her belly, both of them feeling their child kick against her touch. “She’s fine. I’m fine. You’re fine. We’re all fine.” Arizona was still stressed though. “I understand you’re scared…”

“But what, Calliope? But it’ll never happen again? I’ll never get scared that something’s going to happen to you or to her?! Because that’s not possible! We’re having a baby! And anything could happen, anytime! I’m going to feel like this for the rest of my life!”

Callie sighed heavily. Arizona had been great so far, dealing with the pregnancy without missing a step. Clearly that was over now. “Sweetheart, you can’t live like that. We’re okay. We’re going to get back in the car, and keep going to our weekend and we’re all going to stay okay,” she promised. “And, yeah, I’m sure we’ll have years scared off our lives down the line somewhere, and you probably know more ways for that to happen than I could even imagine, but we’re going to be happy too, Arizona.” She turned her, meeting blue eyes steadily, a smile curling the corners of her mouth. “We’re going to be so happy, and we’ll have so much fun, and our kid will be so lucky!”

“Calliope…”

“Shh,” Callie hushed her, the baby moving again. “We’re happy. Remember that. We’re all here, and we’re a family, and we’re not going anywhere but to this bed and breakfast. Okay?”

Arizona nodded but her expression was conflicted. “I just love you so much, and…”

“And you think I love you any less?” countered Callie patiently, shaking her head. “I can’t think about losing you, Arizona. It’s like my brain can’t comprehend a world where you’re not with me. But you’re here, and I’m here, and if I worry all the time about you not being here, I’d never get to enjoy having you. I love every minute I get with you, and I don’t want to spend them worrying until we have to, okay? We’ll be cautious, and careful, and prepare when the baby gets here, but I won’t give up my fun, sexy, loving wife, you got it?” she questioned, winking to soften the words.

Scuffing her shoe along the asphalt, Arizona let out a deep breath. “You did this to me, Calliope. This is your fault!”

“Me?” Callie looked shocked. “What did I do?”

“Oh, just stood in front of a gunman, climbed into a sinkhole with our baby inside you, stuff like that! And in case we forget, you fainted, yesterday!”

Callie’s expression drew down into a frown. “Arizona, I’m sorry I scared you…”

“Losing you scares me! Losing her scares me! I won’t do it!” the blonde interjected, shaking her head and gesturing wildly. Callie just stepped into her and wrapped both arms around her, holding her to her as best she could with her bump in between them. “I never wanted to feel like this,” she said softly, wrapping both arms up Callie’s back. “That’s why I couldn’t want kids. Because it’s too easy to feel like this.” Callie nodded, understanding. “But it happened before I changed my mind about kids. It happened when I fell in love with you. Because you’re inside me. Not just in a sexy way, but like you’re part of me. And living without you is like living without my arms or legs.” Her breathing hitched as her emotion threatened to choke her. “And I really can’t figure out how I lived without arms or legs for thirty years before I met you, Calliope. But now I can’t go back.”

“You will never lose me, Arizona,” Callie promised softly. “You’re part of me too, you know that?” Arizona nodded without speaking, Callie’s fingers combing lightly through her hair. “Good, because I love you and that will never change. And there will never be a day that I won’t need you. Okay?” Because she knew that Arizona was scared, she was scared too - of being a mother, of being one of the people that their baby depended on for everything, of their lives changing forever - but she took her biggest reassurance from the knowledge that no matter what, Arizona would be at her side, holding her hand. And they wouldn’t have to do anything alone.

“We can do this together,” she said aloud, smiling sweetly to her. “Whatever you can’t do, I will. And whenever I can’t tell her no because she looks like her Mama and has me wrapped around her little finger…”

It won her a laugh, Arizona shaking her head. “Oh no, Calliope. You’re not being the pushover and making me the bossy one!”

Callie smirked. “I like it when you’re bossy,” she said too innocently, biting her lip to keep from laughing.

A quick hand slapped her ass, thankfully out of sight of the driver of the other vehicles. “I like it when you’re all flirty,” Arizona countered. “Think it’ll last until we get there?”

Callie’s smirk became a full grin. “You just keep looking at me like that…”

“I always look at you like this!” cried Arizona. “So no problem keeping it going, babe. You’re gorgeous.”

And she had no doubts about it either. Because it was in Arizona’s eyes, on her face, every time she looked at her. No matter how she saw herself, with the extra curves and everything else that came along with carrying a baby, Arizona looked at her and she was beautiful. “Come on, sweet talker. Let’s get back on the road,” Callie declared, walking toward the front of the truck.

Making sure the road was clear, Arizona put the stranded truck driver to work ensuring it stayed that way while she drove them around his vehicle, taking no more chances with her wife and unborn baby. And that didn’t just cover driving safely. Callie’s mental state after the earlier encounter with her father had seemed perfectly normal, but after her own panicky freak out on the side of the road, she knew how easily feelings could sneak up on a person.

“So…” she started slowly. “Your dad…” The slow pace lasted only a second, Arizona diving right in.

Callie smiled, looking out the window at the passing scenery. “I’m okay. He hasn’t been a part of my life in a long time. And maybe we’ll talk, maybe he’ll try and be a dad again, maybe he’ll be an amazing grandfather. But will I ever trust him like I used to? No,” she talked it through simply. “Whatever we had before, whatever trust was there, it’s gone and we can’t get it back. Because he abandoned me for years.” Callie’s voice was still calm, collected, and reasonable. This was not a sad, stressed woman. Her gaze swung to the other side of the car, catching blue eyes glancing her way. “Okay? Even if he stays this time, if he can work this out for himself, it’s not like we’ll see him. We’re in Seattle, he’s in Miami. Yesterday doesn’t change anything.”

“But you’re going to call him when we get home?” Arizona checked.

Callie smiled, reaching across the car to stroke her wife’s arm gently. “Arizona, you are the only person I count on. Maybe it used to be him, but now it’s you. Just you. This, letting him back in, this is for him. I don’t want or need anything from him.”

That was a lie, even if Callie didn’t want it to be. Callie was open hearted and free with her emotions, she was the one who was more guarded. And she protected the things she loved, first among them Callie. And if this went wrong, it would hurt her. But she didn’t know how to protect her from this. “I don’t - I can’t watch him break your heart,” Arizona said on a sigh.

Fingers trailed up her arm and picked her hand up off the steering wheel, Callie kissing the back of it. “Sweetheart, the only one with the power to break my heart is you. And I trust you completely, so I’m entirely not worried about my father.”

Arizona smiled but didn’t take her eyes off the road, breathing deeply. “Calliope, you’re okay? Really?”

“I’m okay,” Callie promised, holding her wife’s hand to her chest.

“So why even talk to him?” she asked curiously, shrugging. “I mean, you know I’ll support whatever you want to do, but we’re doing great, we’re having a baby, and I don’t want him messing up our life.”

“You just said it, Arizona. We’re having a baby,” said Callie softly. “And they deserve two sets of grandparents, if it’s possible. I’m doing this for her,” she declared, rubbing Arizona’s hand across her belly.

Nodding, Arizona swallowed thickly. “Okay.” She would do anything for her wife, their baby. “And if it doesn’t go well?”

“Then we walk away,” said Callie simply. “Metaphorically, I mean. We’re not going anywhere. But we’ll cut ties, nothing changes. We’ll have each other and our baby and our family, friends, jobs, and we’ll be happy.”

“It’s that easy for you?” Arizona asked, swallowing. “I know my parents stayed and were loyal, so I don’t have any way of knowing what you went through…”

“I lost my parents a long time ago. And maybe that’s not something you get over, but you get through it and you move on, live your life,” Callie tried to explain, Arizona’s hand still resting lightly on her stomach. “So I let them go. If they come back, great, but I’m not counting on them. I moved on and found the most amazing woman,” Arizona smiled, dimples out, “and I’m out of my mind in love with her, and she’s everything I need and want.” Pausing, she leaned over the center console and kissed her wife’s cheek softly. “That’s you, just so you know.”

“I got that, thanks,” Arizona acknowledged with a laugh, jumping when lips closed on her earlobe, teeth pulling lightly on the skin. “Calliope! Back in your seat! No messing around while I’m driving! It’s not safe!”

Callie whined in her ear but sat back in her own seat. “You know how the hormones work though, babe,” she warned. “Sometimes I just need you.” Arizona shot her a look that clearly said behave and the brunette grinned before her expression sobered some, her eyes dropping to her bump. “I do have one other reason for talking to my father,” she said quietly, hand stroking over her rounded stomach. “If something ever happened with her, if she wasn’t speaking to us, if she moved to the other side of the country to get a new life, would you ever stop trying to get another chance?” she asked hypothetically, feeling their baby moving under her hand.

Arizona’s expression pulled, grip tightening on the steering wheel. “That’s never going to happen,” she declared fervently. She would never let that happen.

“I know that,” Callie soothed her, reaching over to rub her knee. “You understand what I’m saying though, right? We would never close the door on our child. And now, about to have a kid of my own, I can’t do it to my father. Because it would destroy us to be on the other side of that. So I find myself wanting to be merciful.”

The blonde sighed, consciously relaxing her hands. “Okay. I understand. And you’re right - I would never give up trying to get back into our baby’s life…”

“Not that that’s ever going to happen,” Callie commented. “I can’t imagine anything that would make either one of us turn our backs on them.” Arizona frowned, shaking her head resolutely. She couldn’t imagine anything like that either because nothing would ever drive her away from her baby. She didn’t even like thinking about it. “Let’s talk about something else,” suggested Callie wisely, fingers combing through blonde hair soothingly. “How close are we to this place?”

Nudging her head against the touch, Arizona let out a deep breath, grateful for the subject change. “Maybe an hour?” She grinned sideways at her wife. “Why? Do you think you might need more sleep?”

Callie’s touch went from stroking her hair to swatting her arm in a second. “The baby wears me out and you know it,” she defended herself. “And I haven’t noticed you complaining about all the extra time in bed.”

Arizona was already shaking her head. “No way, Calliope.” She wasn’t crazy, for God’s sake. And Callie’s pregnancy hormones had been very good to them. “But before you say anything sexy and make me pull this car over, let’s play a car game,” she suggested.

Callie pouted playfully but dutifully stayed in her seat. “You don’t want a quickie in the backseat?” she asked, teasing shamelessly.

The blonde gritted her teeth and shook her head, the effort looking painful from Callie’s vantage point on the other side of the car. “Calliope, what I want is going to need the king sized bed waiting for us at the bed and breakfast and it’s going to take a long, long time,” Arizona declared, her voice strained with the effort of her restraint. “But it’s good you got rested up.” Blue eyes shot her a wink and Callie grinned.

“I spy with my little eye something that begins with…”


	24. Chapter 24

Arizona loved being the head of her department, but it did mean that sometimes she was late coming home for dinner. So when she came through the door, the smell of pot roast was already in the air, the muffled rhythm of conversation audible on the other side of the swinging door mixing with the clink and clatter of forks and knives on plates and bowls. It made her happy, but at the same time it made her sigh. They were busy surgeons so it was going to happen, but she hated the thought of missing out on dinners with Callie and their child.

Shedding her coat in the doorway and hanging it up, Arizona pushed through the swinging door to the kitchen to find the dinner and conversation already in progress. Since they’d moved out, they still had the boys (and Teddy) over once a week or so for dinner. Apparently she was missing that too… Callie was laughing at something Alex said, but she sent Arizona a dazzling smile and leaned her head back for a kiss. “Hey you,” she hummed in greeting. “Let me get you some…”

“No, you sit,” Arizona denied, hands on her shoulders keeping her in her chair. “I’ll get it.”

“Crock pot’s over by the stove,” Callie told her, still smiling and laughing at Karev’s joke. At nearly nine months pregnant, Callie was moving more slowly and, much to her displeasure, had had to handle much more paperwork than procedures at work lately. But Arizona had insisted, and the Chief had backed her up. She did have more time to spend at home, which she spent cooking, much to the gratification of their former roommates.

Arizona had barely sat down in the seat beside her and was reaching over to greet the baby when Tim cleared his throat to get the attention of the table. “Now that you’re here, I wanted to ask for some help…”

“You need it,” she joked back wearily, rubbing Callie’s stomach gently. “Hey, baby. Mama’s home,” she murmured before turning her attention back to her brother. “What’s up?”

“Teddy and I are getting married,” announced the Marine. The declaration was met with sudden and complete silence. “And moving to a bigger apartment. And you, as my family and closest friends, have an obligation to help me move.”

Arizona blinked, feeling Callie look sideways at her for a reaction. Tim and Teddy had been together for a while now, but more often than not, they didn’t really acknowledge that they were dating, handling the whole thing rather casually. So marriage was a big step…

“You’re doing what now?” Arizona asked dumbly.

“We’re getting married,” Tim repeated himself, glancing sideways at Teddy beside him and smiling.

“And a bigger place?”

“Technically, we’re getting a place together,” he clarified, enjoying the looks of surprise he was getting from the others. “Teddy’s place only has her name on the lease, and it’s Teddy’s place, so we’re getting a place for the both of us. So we’ll need a hand moving stuff out too.”

Alex took a sip of his water and reached for another scoop of rice from the dish in the middle of the table. “When I helped Torres move in, I got a TV out of the deal,” he said.

“Touch my TV and you’re dead,” Tim said with a laugh. “I’ll buy all the pizza and beer, though.”

Karev shrugged. “I’m in.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Arizona barked, confused. “Go back to the part where you and Teddy are getting married! You guys won’t even admit that you’re dating half the time!”

“Well, now we’re getting married,” said Tim cheerfully. “I thought you’d be happier, baby sister…”

“Is there a time crunch Aunt Arizona needs to know about?” the blonde countered, smirking. “Because it’ll be cool for the little cousins to be so close in age. They can grow up together!” she teased, Teddy glaring across the table at her, Arizona adeptly dodging a sharp kick beneath the table top so Teddy kicked the leg of her chair instead.

Callie interceded before the joking could escalate, heaving herself awkwardly out of her seat, Arizona holding her arm as Tim stood up to stabilize her. She pulled him into a hug. “Congratulations, brother. Love you.”

“Love you too,” he echoed, moving to let her hug Teddy happily.

“I hope you’ll wait long enough for the wedding that I can wear a dress instead of a tent. And I’ll help however I can with moving, but I think this one,” she nodded toward her wife, “is not going to let me even look at anything heavy,” Callie said, giving him a pleased smile. “And I’m really happy for you.”

He sent her a wink. “We’ll load up some boxes of books just for you,” he teased, waiting for a reaction from his sister.

Sure enough, she sent him a glare even as she stood up to hug him. “You better mean comic books.”

“Hey! Don’t hate on my comic books!” Tim cried in protest. “You’re the one who got me a subscription to Superman for my birthday!”

“Renewed your subscription,” she corrected him, rolling her eyes toward Teddy. “You really want to marry this guy?” The heart surgeon just grinned fondly at him. Callie could relate to her look, she looked the same way at Arizona. Blue eyes met hers in silent understanding and Callie reached for her hand, thumb brushing over her knuckles. “I guess you could do worse,” she conceded, giving each of them a happy smile. “No one’s doing better than me, though.”

“Whatever.” Tim gave her a look. “I mean, Callie’s cool and all…”

“Okay, stop it before both of you end up on the couches,” Callie cut in quickly, Teddy nodding her agreement.

The Robbins siblings wore matching expressions of confusion. “Wait, how would that work?” Arizona asked.

“Don’t try and figure it out,” Teddy said, shaking her head. “Just admit that we’re all awesome, and we’ll move on.”

Exchanging looks, the brother and sister pair nodded, Callie pulling Arizona back into her chair.

“Okay, so I’m happy for you too,” Arizona admitted. She pointed sternly, expression going serious again. “But don’t even joke about making Callie carry stuff. She can unpack or something, but no carrying!”

“I’m sitting right here,” the Latina observed dryly. “And I’m pregnant, not an invalid.”

“You’re very pregnant,” Alex pointed out in an attempt to be helpful. He realized it was less than when Callie glared at him without blinking. “Still hot, though,” he added, shrugging his shoulders.

Brown eyes rolled and Arizona cleared her throat warningly. “Say one more thing, Karev,” she invited him. She was protective, she knew that, but it was her wife and her child. And Callie was beautiful. And Karev had eyes. And speaking for herself, Callie’s breasts were out of this world. “But you are very pregnant, Calliope,” she agreed hesitantly.

Rolling her eyes again, this time at her wife, Callie sighed. “I know that. I have noticed that. And I’ll unpack boxes in the kitchen or something.” She smiled slowly, rubbing the blonde’s knee gently. “Don’t worry so much.”

And as the next week between Tim’s announcement and the day they could actually move into the new place passed, Arizona really did try not to worry. Except for the sinkhole, which was not something they warned about in any pregnancy books, it had been a smooth, almost boring pregnancy. But the due date was any day now, so she just simply couldn’t help herself. Callie and Tim tried to keep her distracted by unleashing her type-A personality on the packing, which helped. It did mean that they had to submit to whatever she told them to do since they’d put her in charge. If it was helping to keep her partner from freaking out while they waited for labor to start though, Callie would do anything.

She would have considered not mentioning the big contraction that hit her just after lunch except she gasped when it struck her and braced herself on the kitchen counter and Arizona’s protective instincts had never been more finely tuned.

“Hey, are you okay?” Hiding those minor contractions she’d been having all morning was probably about to come back and bite her on the ass.

“Yeah,” Callie gasped out, squeezing her eyes closed and resting one hand on her stomach. She focused on breathing, drawing it slowly in and pushing it slowly back out again. It would pass. They’d taken two truckloads from the house to Tim and Teddy’s new place, there was only one more to get from Teddy’s apartment and they’d be done for the day.

Arizona’s voice was closer to her as the blonde spoke again, “No, you’re not! Calliope, oh my God! Are you having contractions?!” Out of breath and unable to speak, Callie just nodded reluctantly. Busted. “Oh my God!” Arizona cried again, packing and moving Tim’s stuff instantly pushed out of her head.

“Arizona…”

“How long have-when did they start-” wide blue eyes blinked and focused, “When were you going to tell me?!” she demanded.

Callie forced her eyes open as the wave passed, breathing deeply. “That was the first big one, I swear.” She smiled, hoarsely laughing. “It’s not like I could’ve had the baby without you noticing, Arizona,” she reminded her gently, stroking a hand over her wife’s cheek and into her hair soothingly. “It’s okay.”

“You’re okay?” Arizona asked, not entirely relieved. “Really? Did your water break?”

“Not yet,” the brunette answered patiently, guiding her partner’s hand to her stomach. Arizona unconsciously relaxed as she stroked the rounded belly, able to feel where the baby had started to shift in preparation for being born. “See? We’re okay.”

Leaning into her neck, Arizona sighed. “I know you were trying to keep me from freaking out, but walking into the kitchen to see you having contractions - not comforting, Calliope!”

Smiling, Callie kissed the side of her head, stroking through her hair gently. “I’m sorry,” she offered meekly.

“How far apart are your contractions?” asked Arizona, wishing she could be calm and professional, but it was her baby. Every parent that had ever been in her ward made complete and perfect sense to her now.

Callie shrugged, trying to think. “Fifteen minutes?”

Arizona’s shoulders slumped as she let out a deep breath. “Okay, good, thank you.”

“Sweetheart, I would have told you right away if I’d gone into labor,” Callie promised. “But I didn’t want to be in the hospital all day either,” she lightly teased, giving her partner a loving smile. If she’d known about the contractions all day, Arizona wouldn’t have let her out of her sight, possibly would have dragged her into the hospital to wait.

“Well, Tim’s room is all cleaned out, so we can paint, and he said he’d come over in a day or two and help us put the crib up in our room.”

“I can do that,” Callie offered, knowing already the response that would get from her wife. “You won’t let me unload anything at the new place, I could stay here and put the crib together.”

“Um, no,” the blonde denied her immediately. “You’d sit down to bolt something together and your water would break.” She emphatically shook her head, both hands sliding to grip Callie’s hips. “I want the baby to come, but I do not want to deliver them myself!”

“Teddy’s here too,” teased Callie, flicking her lightly on the tip of her nose. She hoped, and not for the first time, that the Robbins genes would make themselves known in the baby’s features. “You two could do it.”

“That’s not funny, Calliope.” Arizona expression was serious, brows furrowed over deep blue eyes.

Smiling softly, Callie leaned forward. “Kiss me,” she requested. Her swollen, pregnant belly meant that Arizona had to lean in as well to meet her lips. It was soft and mostly chaste, Callie pulling lightly on her lower lip between her own. “Better?” she asked with a sigh as they separated, both able to feel the baby kick in between them.

“Better,” confirmed Arizona. “Thank you.” The baby gave another flutter and she smiled down at the big bump. “That feels like it feels weird,” she commented, laughing.

“It feels weird.” Her breathing hitched as the little foot caught an organ, a grimace crossing her face. “You kind of get used to it, though.”

Arizona looked at her directly. “Do you think you’ll miss it when it’s gone?”

Laughing, Callie shook her head. “I don’t think so. And I wouldn’t mind this one keeping you awake instead of me for a change,” she confessed, grinning.

“Oh, thanks,” the blonde agreed sarcastically. “Does that mean I’m flying solo on diaper duty for a while?”

The realization of what the contractions meant, more than just the trigger for Arizona freaking out, but that they were actually going to be parents within a day, was overwhelming, both of them smiling at each other. Almost as if her body knew what she was thinking, another strong contraction clenched her womb, drawing a harsh gasp. 

“I’m okay, just another contraction,” she said before Arizona could ask, then realized that that wasn’t strictly true. “Okay, wait, maybe we should get ready to go to the hospital.” She caught Arizona’s arm before her partner could fly off the handle. “It is okay, sweetheart. Stay calm. We’ve still got a lot of time.”

Arizona was wide-eyed but she nodded, drawing on her professionalism to keep control. “I got it,” she promised, mustering a strained smile. She pulled one of Callie’s hands up to kiss the back of it. “I got this.” Callie gave her a reassuring smile and Arizona stepped backwards toward the door. “Tim!” she yelled suddenly, loud enough that Callie covered her ears. “Go time! This is not a drill! I repeat, not a drill!”

Callie sent her an amused look, shaking her head. “You’ve been drilling for this? Where have I been that I missed that?!”

They could both hear Tim jogging down the stairs at a rapid pace and straight out the door to get the car. “Of course I’ve been drilling for this, Calliope. And you’ve been getting tired so easily lately, it was easy to keep you from watching and mocking.”

“Do you have more than one plan?” Callie asked curiously, grinning at her partner. She loved her the most. She might be crazy, but it was sweet and kind of cute how eager she was. Arizona had come a long way from the woman who’d never wanted children.

“Of course! There’s one for if we were home alone, or if Alex was here, or Tim, or Teddy, or you by yourself,” Arizona answered her, listing them out matter-of-factly.

“But I didn’t drill for that one!” said Callie with a laugh, taking Arizona’s hand when the blonde offered hers.

“You didn’t have to…”

“Because I haven’t been on my own in the last month?” she questioned teasingly.

Blue eyes just narrowed at her as they made their way slowly toward the front door. “Because you would have called me and I would have taken care of it.” She cleared her throat pointedly. “You would have called me, right?”

Callie sighed with a smile, nodding. “Of course I would have, Arizona. You are not missing the birth of our child,” she promised. “I need somebody’s hand to crush, right?”

“Right!” Arizona agreed, unable to help grinning, dimples deep on her cheeks. “Not my cutting hand though, right?” she checked nervously.

Laughing, Callie leaned over to kiss her cheek lightly. “I’ll try not to, but I make no promises, sweetness.”


	25. Chapter 25

Waking up was slow, her body aching and tired. But Callie was simultaneously happy and peaceful. Because she had a daughter with the love of her life. And thinking of them, a voice hummed beside her, “Look who’s waking up, baby girl. It’s Mami.” Warm lips touched her temple. “I love you so much,” Arizona murmured.

“That’s good to know,” sighed Callie, smile curling her lips. “Since I just went through fifteen hours of labor for the two of you.” She pushed her eyes open and shifted in the bed. “Can I see her or are you still hogging her?”

Arizona thumbed the button to sit the bed up and leaned over to tuck their infant into the curl of Callie’s arm. She dropped another kiss on her forehead and smiled when Callie’s free hand caught the front of her shirt, keeping her from withdrawing. Smiling softly, the brunette leaned forward to close the minute distance between them, kissing her and taking her time. This was her family. This was everything she wanted in life.

They separated as their daughter wiggled and whimpered in her arms, smiling at each other. “Hey, Sofia, baby. What’s up? Is someone hungry?” It took a bit of fumbling to get her settled in position, and the sensation was completely strange, but Callie smiled at the sight. “Someone was hungry.”

Arizona sat down on the edge of the bed, hand finding her wife’s knee through the sheets. “Don’t kill me for saying this, but I could so go for a cigarette right now.” Brown eyes just glared at her silently. “Not that I’m going to smoke one! I just want one!”

“Look at your daughter’s face and say that again,” Callie suggested firmly.

It worked like a charm. She would never choose to do anything that might hurt half of her heart. And Callie was the other half. These two in this bed were her world. “Okay, I’m over it,” she declared, reaching out to stroke a hand over wispy, soft brown hair. “Damn it, that’s going to work like a charm every time.”

Callie’s smile wasn’t bothered by that. “She’s beautiful.” She glanced up at her wife. “She looks like you.”

“Well, you already said she is beautiful,” Arizona agreed with a quiet laugh. But the baby really did look like her. She had brown hair, brown eyes, but her features were distinctly Robbins under olive skin, though her tone was lighter than her mother’s.

“I hope she’s humble like her Mama,” the Latina teased, meeting Arizona’s eyes. She would adore nothing more than for their daughter to be just like Arizona.

“Babe, between the two of us, I think she’s doomed on the humility front.” Not that they could help it, really. They were surgeons. That was part of the deal. “But she’s our baby, so she was always going to be awesome, Calliope.” And she was. She had ten perfect little fingers and toes, weighed in at seven and a half pounds, and was the epitome of a perfectly healthy newborn. But to her proud mothers, entirely in love with her from her first cry, she was undeniably awesome and perfect.

They were quiet for a few minutes, just basking in their family. Arizona sighed when one of their phones went off on the little rolling table, standing on one leg to drag it into reach before she flopped back onto her seat beside Callie’s feet. “Whose is it?” the distracted brunette asked as Sofia finished her supper and burped, both of her mothers cooing at the ridiculous adorableness of their baby.

“It’s mine,” Arizona answered when she could concentrate again, reluctantly dragging her eyes away from the sight of Callie rocking Sofia against her shoulder. They were beautiful together. “Oh, my parents are here! Tim ran into them in the lobby.” She sent Callie an eager smile. “Can they come up? They want to see her.”

“Of course they can,” said Callie, leaning back against the pillow wearily.

Arizona noticed, lowering her phone slowly. “Listen, sweetie, if you want to sleep I can tell them to come back later…”

“They want to meet their granddaughter. They’re not going to wait,” she pointed out with a laugh. “Tell them to come up.” She closed her eyes as she leaned back into the mattress, sore and tired. She wouldn’t be good company for any of their visitors, but she didn’t want her weariness to keep her in-laws from their granddaughter. Arizona had called Carlos as well, but he was still on a plane.

Hushing everyone as they came in, Arizona whispered greetings, hugging her father when Barbara dodged around her to get a view of the baby. “Love you too, Mom,” Arizona muttered sarcastically into her father’s chest.

“She’s so sweet!” Barbara squealed, both hands over her mouth to stifle the noise. Behind her, her husband and children exchanged fond, loving looks. “Can I - could I hold her?”

Callie nodded, smiling slowly. “Of course, Grandma.” She sat up somewhat to transition the sleepy baby to her mother-in-law, relaxing gratefully back into the bed. She forced her eyes to stay open though, wanting to see her expression when she saw the family resemblance. They’d sent her a picture to get them through the drive to Seattle, but it didn’t capture just how much Sofia looked like Arizona.

“Oh my God, she’s perfect!” She turned to display the tired, blinking baby to the Colonel. “Look at her, Daniel!”

He gave her a gruff nod, too emotional to speak. This wasn’t something they’d ever expected from their daughter but they were as instantly in love with the baby girl as Callie and Arizona were themselves. Instead of speaking, he just leaned over to kiss his daughter’s blonde hair. 

“Thank you, Dad,” Arizona murmured. Reaching behind her with one hand, she found her brother’s wrist and squeezed hard. He’d been in the waiting room since they’d arrived, calling their parents and endlessly fetching food and drinks after the birth was finally over. He just gave her a light punch on the shoulder. None of the Robbins (besides Barbara) were spectacular at sharing their feelings vocally in front of a group.

“Her name’s Sofia?” Barbara checked, rocking her as the baby succumbed to sleep.

“Sofia Michelle Robbins-Torres,” recited Arizona, getting another knock from her brother. His middle name was Michael, hers was Marie, the middle initial M a family tradition now carried on to another generation of Robbins. “It’s cute, isn’t it?” she asked, grinning at him.

“You’ve got a cute kid there, sis,” he agreed warmly.

“I helped,” Callie called from the bed, smiling at them. She didn’t want to be rude, but she wasn’t going to be able to stay awake much longer.

“You did great too, Cal,” Tim assured her, winking.

Arizona moved around her mother to lean over the bed, brushing hair back from Callie’s face. “You did so great, Calliope. And you’re so gorgeous and I love you more than anything,” she murmured. Callie just blinked, smiling at her. “You should get some more sleep. We’ll be quiet.”

Nodding, Callie let her eyes closed. “I’m sorry, Robbinses,” she offered. “I know you just got here, but I’m exhausted.” They all chorused that of course she should get some sleep if she could and Callie hooked her fingers in Arizona’s collar. “I know your mom loves her, but she can’t keep her. We better still have a baby when I wake up,” she teased, kissing her before Arizona could respond.

“Yes, Calliope. I’ll make sure she stays in the room,” the blonde promised, rolling her eyes. “Go to sleep.”

Callie nodded but her eyes blinked open again a second later. “And if my dad gets here…?”

“I’ll wake you up,” Arizona said patiently. “Go to sleep.”

And somehow, Callie was still asleep when her father and Aria arrived, the former knocking on the door only a heartbeat before the latter just swept into the room with an excessive number of balloons and a teddy bear. At Arizona’s surprised look she just shrugged, looking over her gifts again. “What? Too much?” she asked with a grin, throwing both arms around her sister-in-law eagerly. “Congratulations! That’s what people say for babies, right?”

Sofia was awake and she blinked at the new arrivals in silent consideration from her uncle’s arms. “Yes, Aria, that’s what people say for babies,” Arizona agreed, releasing her as her mother stood up to greet them. “Carlos and Aria Torres, these are my parents Daniel and Barbara Robbins, and my big brother Tim.”

“Me and Tim go way back,” Aria joked with a laugh (meaning that they’d partied together at Callie and Arizona’s rehearsal dinner), leaning over his seat to look at Sofia. “Isn’t she just the cutest thing ever?!”

“Mom, Dad, this is Calliope’s younger sister and her father,” Arizona finished her introductions with a smile before she noticed the new arrival who slipped into the room silently. She didn’t know for sure, but resemblance made her fairly certain that this was Callie’s mother. And of course she picked today to come to Seattle with her husband. Carlos showed his face for the first time in years on the day of Callie’s baby shower. And now her mother was choosing their baby’s birth to make her appearance. The timing with her partner’s family was almost uncanny.

Even as she thought it, Callie woke up. “Mama?”

Arizona could have kicked herself.

Callie pushed herself up straighter in bed with both hands, casting a confused look around the room. Only the expression on Arizona’s face convinced her that she wasn’t dreaming. “You’re here…”

“They just came in,” Arizona assured her. “I was going to wake you up…”

Sensing the sudden tension in the room, Tim stood up, passing Sofia back to Arizona. “Mom, Dad, how about we go get the new mommies some dinner?” he suggested, sliding one hand across the back of his sister’s shoulders as he edged around her toward the door. “Nice to see you, Aria, Mr. Torres, Mrs. Torres,” he said politely, ushering his parents out but lingering in the doorway for a moment until he got a nod from Callie.

Waiting until the door closed behind the Robbins, Callie spoke up hesitantly, “Mom, what are you doing here?” She and Carlos had stayed in touch after his last visit, but from everything he’d told her, her mother wasn’t coming around the way he had. And yet she was here. Callie had gotten used to the fact that she’d lost her family a long time ago. She had a new family now. But something inside of her, some tiny little bit of her, so small she’d long forgotten it was there, still longed to share this happy day with her mother, no matter how unlikely it seemed.

Carlos and Aria stayed quiet, Arizona rocking Sofia but staying at Callie’s bedside. No one spoke for a long moment. “You have a baby,” Mrs. Torres murmured.

“Darling, this is Dr. Arizona Robbins, Calliope’s wife,” Carlos introduced them. His face didn’t even twitch and Callie felt a burst of pride in her father. He’d said he wanted to be there and he had been, even when she knew it wasn’t easy for him. “And Arizona, this is my wife Lucia.”

Arizona nodded politely, holding her daughter in one arm and offering her other hand. The other woman didn’t take it. “Nice to finally meet you, ma’am,” the blonde said, sounding normal to someone who didn’t know her. 

Callie looked up at her, catching the guardedness in her voice. Arizona would stand by her side no matter what, but she wouldn’t just stand by and let anyone hurt her either. Reaching up, she pulled the blonde’s hand down and held it in her lap. “We have a baby, yes,” she agreed with her mother, eyes helplessly drawn to the bundle in Arizona’s arm. “Sofia Michelle Robbins-Torres.”

“That’s a beautiful name, mija,” Carlos sighed with a smile. “She’s beautiful.”

Arizona edged forward to let him get a better look at her and his face lit up. “She is,” she agreed reverently. Not that she was biased or anything, but she saw a lot of kids. And hers was by far the cutest, prettiest, and sure to be the smartest. “Do you want to hold her, Grandpa?”

“Could I?” he asked, looking at them both as he asked the question. Arizona looked to Callie for a nod, handing their daughter over to her grandfather when she got it. He smiled at the infant, cooing to her and whispering in Spanish, but the rest of the room fell into an uncomfortable silence, everyone tense.

Clearing her throat, Aria broke the quiet. “So, how was labor? I hear that stuff’s a bitch!”

“Aria!” Carlos called her down sternly, hastily lowering his voice when Sofia jumped in his arms, blinking wide eyes and whimpering for a moment before she settled down again.

“It was rough,” Callie agreed, rolling her eyes at her sister. “But worth it.” 

Aria was grinning down at the baby in their father’s arms and she wiggled her fingers in front of Sofia’s face, prompting a flurry of blinks. Then she smiled, sighing and relaxing into Carlos. “Oh my God, she’s got the dimples! This one is going to be a heartbreaker!”

Callie and Arizona exchanged their own smiles. They knew the smiles were just reflex, not because the infant was actually aware of being happy. It was heartwarming to see her smile either way. And she’d been smiling frequently. “She looks like her Mama,” Callie hummed in satisfaction. Lucia twitched but didn’t say anything.

Aria reacted with another squeal, tickling Sofia’s stomach gently. “So Arizona’s Mama and you are…?”

“Mami,” answered Arizona, everyone noticing Lucia’s reaction this time.

Sighing, Callie tugged on her wife’s wrist until the blonde sat down on the side of the bed beside her. “Do you have something you’d like to say, Mother?” she asked, edge in her tone. Her mother could leave or she could stay, but she couldn’t just sit there and huff at them. It was two days after her daughter’s birthday. She got to be so, so happy today. Passive-aggressive bullshit from her mother didn’t get to spoil it. “What’s bothering you more, my lesbian wife, or our baby?”

“That is not her baby!” Lucia shot back instinctively. “And she is not your wife.”

Arizona didn’t respond at all, leaving her hand in Callie’s lap. Carlos and Aria both went stiff, watching both of the Torres women for a reaction. “Wrong answer, Mom,” Callie said, her voice hoarse. “Arizona is my wife. And Sofia is absolutely her daughter,” she declared. “Did you even look her in the face?” Looking into Sofia’s face, the resemblance was unmistakable. “She was going to be your granddaughter. But if that’s the kind of thing you’re going to tell our daughter, then you lose the privilege of seeing her.” No one moved, barely breathing. “I’m serious. Leave if you can’t see what family means.”

“Calliope, it’s a sin,” Lucia started, cut off by Callie’s heavy sigh. They’d had the religious argument years ago, before she’d ever left Miami.

“We’re not having this discussion again,” Callie said, shaking her head. “Stay or go, I really can’t care anymore, Mom.” She laced her fingers through Arizona’s, squeezing her hand for support. “Arizona and Sofia are who I care about.”

Her eyes stayed locked on the older woman, watching her mother’s expression freeze before she resettled her purse on her shoulder and turned, leaving the room without a word. It was silent again, no one speaking, barely breathing.

Sensing the tension, Sofia let out a sudden cry, squeezing her eyes closed and screaming. Carlos quickly handed her back to her parents, having to turn his back to blink back emotion. He’d had high hopes when Lucia had expressed her desire to go with them to Seattle when Arizona had called about the baby.

Callie hushed her gently, blinking back tears of her own as she stared down at her baby. Sofia settled down as soon as she was back in familiar arms, nestling into her mother’s elbow and breathing fast. Callie could feel Arizona’s free hand in her hair, fingers brushing through the strands gently. Warm lips pressed a kiss to the side of her head but didn’t say anything, just offered quiet strength and comfort.

“Perhaps we should go find some dinner ourselves,” Carlos suggested after a few minutes. Aria joined him at the door but her father hesitated in the opening. “Calliope, I’m so - I thought - when she said she wanted to come, I’d hoped…”

“Dad, it’s okay,” Callie said, though her voice was choked, her control clearly nearing its end. “It’s not your fault. And it’s not up to you to change her mind.”

Swallowing hard, his eyes drank in the sight of his daughter with her baby. “Can I come back, or should I leave too?”

Callie nodded at him. “Of course you can come back. And if Mom ever comes around, she might be welcome. With Arizona’s blessing,” she warned him. If she was going to disparage her marriage, she was going to have to win her second (third, fourth) chance back from her wife. Her loving, protective wife. He nodded in understanding and left, Aria mouthing apologies at them and pulling the door closed behind her.

Leaning back into her wife’s body, Callie let out a tremulous breath as Arizona’s arm curled over her shoulder and across her chest. “Cry,” she whispered simply, giving soft permission for her to let it out. She didn’t have to be strong right now. Because her strength had her safely wrapped up in her arms. Her head rocked back against the blonde’s shoulder and she squeezed her eyes closed as she let the tears fall.

It didn’t last long, her mother had abandoned her a long time before, but this fresh reminder did hurt. But when she got herself under control and regained her breath, she didn’t remove herself from Arizona’s body or arms. “I love you more than anything. You know that, right?” she asked, voice gruff with emotion.

Arizona kissed the side of her head again, keeping her lips pressed against soft black hair. “Of course I know that, Calliope,” she murmured. “I love you too.”

“She’s wrong,” Callie whispered. “You’re my wife. And you’re Sofia’s mother.”

The blonde nodded, pursing her lips against her again. “Of course I am,” she agreed. “It was super fun finally meeting my mother-in-law,” said Arizona with a sigh. “I know she’s your mom, but you definitely got the better half of that deal.” Another kiss. “And, for the record, if you hadn’t had the good sense to marry into my family, they would have totally adopted you after Tim’s surgeries.”

Laughing, Callie leaned her head against her partner’s. Sofia blinked up at them from Callie’s arm, surveying her parents with wide brown eyes. She smiled at them suddenly, melting both of their hearts.

“I know it’s just gas, but it’s still the sweetest little smile I’ve ever seen,” Arizona hummed, dragging her other hand down the Latina’s arm. “And it makes me happy no matter why she’s smiling.” She kissed Callie’s cheek, leaving her lips against her skin. “Just like when you smile at me.”

“I’m so happy she got the dimples,” said Callie, reaching back with one hand to stroke her fingers across the same feature on her wife’s face. “Thank you. Have I said thank you for her yet? I couldn’t imagine doing this with anyone but you, Arizona.”

The blonde dipped her face to kiss the top of her shoulder, nestling in closer. “Tim was going to kick my ass if I let you get away because of the kids thing. He told me I’d regret it every day for the rest of my life and he’s right. I would have regretted it forever if I’d missed out on her.”

“Well, without you she wouldn’t be our Sofia.” Arizona reached forward to rub the baby’s belly lightly, kissing Callie’s shoulder again. “And we love our Sofia.”

“Yeah, we do,” Arizona agreed, her own voice made hoarse by tears. She wouldn’t change anything about her life at this moment. She was complete in a way she hadn’t even known she was missing. And it was all because of the woman in her arms. “And I love you.”


	26. Chapter 26

Tim had been around Seattle Grace Hospital enough between his surgeries and his sister, in-law, and his fiancée all working there that he knew his way around without having to ask anyone. So when he reached the floor where Callie and Arizona were, he knew exactly which way to go to see the babies. But he wasn’t the only visitor to the neonatal ward, Lucia Torres standing at the windows and watching Sofia sleep in her bassinet.

“Mrs. Torres, hey,” he greeted her, surprised to see her there after how things had gone the day before. Callie had been her normal self when the Robbins had come back with dinner, but Arizona’s face had told him the truth. No one had brought it up though.

The older woman stepped aside so he could get space at the window in front of Sofia’s carrier, her arms wrapped around herself. “You’re - I’m sorry, I don’t recall your name. You’re her brother.”

“Yes, I’m Arizona’s brother. Name’s Tim,” he introduced himself, offering a hand. She shook it grudgingly and he gave her a dimpled smile. Arizona wasn’t the only one in the family who could radiate cheer. It just came off more cute from her than it did from him.

They were quiet and he grinned when Sofia’s head turned to face the glass, the Marine bending his knees and crouching to the baby’s eyelevel. “She’s cute, isn’t she?” he asked, not really expecting an answer from Lucia.

“She’s yours,” she said instead.

Tim stood up straight, turning to face her. “She’s my niece, yeah. She’s Arizona’s daughter. And Callie’s. I didn’t have anything to do with her, actually, but I do love her.” The tone in his voice didn’t invite discussion and they stood in silence for a minute. “Did you know that Callie’s the reason I can walk?” She blinked at him in surprise. Clearly it wasn’t something she had known, not that that surprised him. “I was in the military. I got blown up and should have lost at least one leg, probably both. If I’d come to anyone else but Callie I probably wouldn’t be walking. I’m always going to be grateful to her for that. And I would do anything for her.” He looked back at the baby. “But even more than what she’s done for me, she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to my sister. Anybody who sees them together can see how they feel about each other. Callie’s a good person, Mrs. Torres. She cares about her patients, she’s an awesome friend, and she loves Arizona. And they both love their daughter.”

“Your family is okay with this, all of this?” Lucia asked him, disbelief in her tone.

Tim nodded easily, broad shoulders shrugging. “Yeah, we are. Arizona loving a woman doesn’t change who she is. She’s my little sister and one of the best people I know. And Callie’s amazing. My parents are crazy about her. You have an incredible daughter, Mrs. T.” Inside the neonatal unit, a nurse was removing Sofia’s carrier from the crowd of others in preparation of taking her to Callie’s room. “I just hope for your sake that you’re not the only one who can’t see that,” he told her seriously. “Because you’re missing out on someone pretty great,” he said, almost sympathetic for this blind, stubborn woman.

Arizona had just stolen Callie’s red jell-o as Tim entered the room with Sofia’s carrier, the nurse more than willing to let him push it down. Everyone in the hospital knew Tim. “At least give me some!” Callie complained, swatting the sheets and trying to snatch the spoon from her wife.

They both looked over when Tim laughed. “I thought I was bringing the baby to you, but it looks like there’s already a few in here,” he teased.

Forgetting about the jell-o completely, Arizona rushed to her brother’s side and leaned over the carrier to grin at her daughter. “Look at you! You’re the best baby ever! And guess what? We get to go home today! You get to see our house and your new room!”

Tim looked up from his niece to Callie for confirmation. “Really? You get to get out of here?” She was swallowing her recovered jell-o but nodded. “Awesome! I guess it’s good that I started the painting last night. You guys said you wanted black walls, right?”

Arizona straightened up quickly, Sofia tucked safely in the curl of her arm. “Timothy, if you turned our daughter’s room into a baby bat cave, I will kick your…butt,” she edited herself when Callie cleared her throat from the bed.

“A baby bat cave sounds cute,” the Latina declared, grinning when her wife sent her a look, shaking her head from side to side.

Confused, Tim cocked his head. “Bat cave?”

Callie laughed. “My old apartment had concrete walls and was really dark…”

“Really dark, Tim!” Arizona chimed in, nodding emphatically at Sofia, who was watching curiously with dark eyes.

“And Arizona wasn’t crazy about it,” Callie finished. “She likes living in an Easter basket.”

Tim shrugged uncertainly, scratching the back of his head with one hand. “Well, I was painting Sofia’s room green, but that’s what color you two told me to, right?”

“I said we could talk about repainting if you want!” the blonde countered with a laugh, ignoring her brother. She knew he’d painted it the right color, the pale green they’d chosen. Another Easter basket color, Callie had noted with a smirk when they’d picked it. “It’s your house too, Calliope.”

“And I’m ready to get back to it,” Callie said eagerly. “Who wants to go get my discharge papers?” 

The brunette arched an eyebrow at Arizona that told her that it wasn’t a request and she handed the baby to Tim. “I’ll be right back.”

“I love you,” called Callie with a laugh. “You’re here early today,” she commented to her brother-in-law, watching him grinning at the baby. There was something off about his expression though. Neither he nor Arizona could hide when they were hiding something. “Hey, are you okay?”

He didn’t look up from Sofia. “Your mom was here. Over in the nursery.”

“What?”

“I saw her there,” he said, looking over at her. “I talked to her for a few minutes until they got Sof out.”

Jaw hanging open, Callie blinked, stunned. She’d never had a family member go to bat for her. “Wha-what did you say?” Sliding her legs over the side of the bed, she stood up, crossing the room to stand beside him. She was still sore and tired, but more than ready to go home. There was nothing that staying in the hospital would do for her that she couldn’t get from going home.

“I told her that she was missing out on her amazing daughter, which is you, but if she doesn’t want you, that we’re more than willing to keep you to ourselves.” They weren’t looking at each other, but down at Sofia, another smile on her little face.

“You did?” Callie asked, choked up. “You said that?”

“Yeah,” he agreed hoarsely. “I did. It’s her loss, Cal.”

Taking a shaky breath, Callie leaned her head against his shoulder. “Have I ever told you that you’re the best brother ever? Because you are.”

Arizona returned just then, drawing up just inside the door when she found the pair of them standing right there. “Hey.” Seeing their serious looks, including what looked like almost tears on her wife’s face, she frowned. “What’s going on?” She had Callie’s discharge papers all filled out, just waiting on a signature.

Exchanging looks with Tim, Callie cleared her throat. “Nothing.”

The blonde just frowned at them in disbelief. “Hey, so Mom and Dad were talking about all of us having dinner tonight. Mom wanted to cook, I think. Could we do it at the house? Me and Teddy don’t have any baby stuff at our place,” Tim spoke up to fill the gap. “I think they were going to stick around town for a few days if you’re not up for it tonight.”

Arizona looked quite sure that that wasn’t what they’d been talking about before she’d come in, but she looked to Callie for an answer instead of pushing it. “Are you up for it, Calliope?”

“Yeah, of course. That would be great,” Callie agreed. “Hey, do you think I could invite my dad and Aria? It would a less awkward chance for the in-laws to meet.”

“Absolutely,” said Tim. “Mom told me to tell you to ask them to come.” By silent consensus none of them mentioned Lucia. “So, dinner at your house - around seven?”

“Sounds good.” Arizona repacked their bag while Callie got Sofia settled in her car seat. “What are you doing here so early anyway?” she asked curiously, looking over her shoulder at him.

“Lunch with Teddy.”

Callie smirked. “It’s nine in the morning.”

Uncharacteristically, he blushed brightly. “Um, I-I don’t really think you guys will appreciate the explanation so I’m not going to answer that.”

Arizona frowned, confused. “Huh?”

Laughing in understanding, Callie shot a look at her brother-in-law, shaking her head from side to side with a smirk. “Nice…”

Still confused, Arizona grumbled, “What?!”

Bobbing her eyebrows at him, Callie grinned at her wife. “Okay, remember what we do with our free time in between surgeries? It hasn’t been that long, has it?” It had been a while since she’d felt sexy, but that wasn’t for a lack of trying on Arizona’s part. At no point in her pregnancy had her wife made her feel anything less than gorgeous, no matter how she’d seen herself.

Finally reaching understanding, Arizona wrinkled her nose at her brother. “You’re right. I didn’t want to know that.” She slung the strap of their bag over her shoulder. “We’re going home now. Enjoy the morning sex, I guess.” 

Callie covered the baby’s ears with both hands, rolling her eyes at her wife. “We’ll see you tonight for dinner. Love to Aunt Teddy!” She waved Sofia’s hand at him and he leaned over to kiss her little forehead. “Bye Uncle Tim!”

“Later.” He held the door for them, following them into the hall.

Arizona grimaced again as she watched him walk away into the hospital while they dropped Callie’s signed papers at the desk and went to the elevator. Noticing the look, Callie bumped her with an elbow. “Don’t be jealous that he’s getting laid.” Arizona chewed on her lip but nodded. “Hey, I know I haven’t been…”

“Calliope, you were housing our baby,” Arizona cut in, smiling down at the infant carrier hanging from the Latina’s arm. “I understand…”

“Hey, you know you’re the most beautiful woman in the world, right? And I would love nothing more than to make love to you,” Callie told her earnestly.

The blonde shook her head but laced their free hands. This was a discussion they’d had before. “Not without you, Calliope.” She would love little more than Callie’s touch, but she wanted to give as well as receive. And until Callie was ready, she was waiting. “And you just had a baby yesterday, so don’t even…”

She stopped as Callie squeezed her hand, the Latina leaning over to kiss her cheek. “Okay, you’re right, I know…”

“I like the sound of that,” Arizona teased, grinning.

“But I do miss you, Arizona,” said Callie, breathing the words in her ear. “You have to believe that, even if I haven’t really been in the mood to show you lately.” She hadn’t felt attractive or desirable, but she’d never forgotten that Arizona was attractive and desirable.

“Shh,” the blonde hushed her, turning her face in to meet her lips for a soft, slow, sweet kiss. “I miss you too, Calliope. We’ll figure it out.” Callie stepped forward for another kiss, chasing her lips. They couldn’t do anything further, but she wasn’t ready to stop the kissing yet.

Only a noise from the infant in her carrier stopped them, Callie groaning in frustration. “I guess we have to get used to that,” she sighed, taking a final quick peck before she leaned back into her own space. “We don’t have to like it, do we?”

“No way,” Arizona declared immediately. She pulled their joined hands to her lips, kissing the back of her hand. “We will figure it out,” she repeated the promise.

Callie nodded, leading them off the elevator. Getting the car seat into place in the backseat only took a few seconds, Arizona digging the keys out of her purse. Groaning as she relaxed into her seat, Callie habitually rested one hand on her middle. “It’ll be good to be home. And have everybody over for dinner.”

The drive was quick, the middle of the morning not a heavy traffic time of day. Arizona just smiled as they pulled into their driveway, parking next to Alex’s Camaro. They’d barely been gone for more than three days, sometimes worked longer shifts than what it had taken to have the baby and get them discharged, but it was still just so good to be home. They both let out deep breaths of relief as they carried Sofia inside, Arizona getting the sleeping baby out of her carrier as soon as they were in the living room.

Sofia seemed to like her little bouncy sleeper, not waking at all from the transition, and her mothers took the opportunity to check the kitchen, the living room, the laundry room. It had only been three days but it felt like things should be different in the house somewhere. They had a baby now, they were parents, the change should be reflected everywhere. Of course, on the ground floor of the house, all that meant was the presence of a pack and play in the corner and intensive baby proofing care of Arizona.

Thankfully Alex trotting noisily down the stairs didn’t disturb the sleeping infant, Arizona quick to point her out to him. “Sorry, boss!” he whispered, quick-stepping with her into the kitchen where Callie was going through the fridge. “You guys are home?”

“Yeah, just got here,” Callie answered, grinning knowingly over her shoulder at him. Alex was a simple guy really, but she appreciated that about him. There was never any bullshit with him. He just told the truth. So she knew exactly why he was smirking back at her in her kitchen. “How much time do you have?”

“Twenty minutes,” he answered, checking his watch eagerly.

Rolling her eyes, Arizona went to the coffeemaker. “Calliope, if you feed the animals they’ll never go away. And what are you doing here anyway? Don’t you live with the pretty boy plastics guy and that loud, shrieky one?”

“Eggs and bacon is the best I can do but you might have to put it on a sandwich on your way out the door,” Callie told Alex, the younger man nodding. Anything home cooked was better than the toaster pastry alternative.

“You just said exactly why I’m here,” Alex told Arizona, lifting a bundle of wire in one hand. “And I came over to look for the cord for my ipod.” He hooked one thumb over his shoulder. “And I wanted to meet the kid. Nice work, boss.” He offered his fist for a bump, the blonde obliging with a proud grin as she crossed the room.

“Hey, my folks and Callie’s dad and Aria are coming over tonight for dinner,” Arizona informed him as she handed over a mug of coffee, taking hers to the stove where Callie was already cooking and kissing her cheek. Now that she was breastfeeding, Callie couldn’t have any more coffee. “Think you’ll be able to make it?”

Alex grimaced, shaking his head regretfully. “I don’t think so. I’m working eighteen hours.” He took a sip of his own coffee. “But the in-laws are meeting. I probably don’t want to be around for that, do I?”

Arizona looked as though she didn’t really want to be around for it either. Callie’s mom had been a curveball for all of them, especially Callie. And Arizona knew there would be people that questioned their relationship with Sofia for the rest of her life, but having the first one be her mother-in-law, and on their little girl’s birthday, it was disheartening for herself as well. But she mustered a strained smile for Callie when the brunette looks sideways at her. Neither one spoke yet though.

Alex’s breakfast sandwich was eaten on the way to his car, Arizona shutting the front door behind him quietly. Callie was sitting down on the couch already, her legs stretched toward the middle. “Come here,” she requested, voice down low so Sofia would hopefully stay asleep. Arizona took the other side of the sofa, putting herself in the same position as Callie, feet toward each other. “I’m so sorry about my mom, sweetie. You are Sofia’s mom.”

“Mama, actually,” Arizona corrected her lightly, gently rubbing her wife’s foot. “I know what people are going to assume, what they’ll say about us. And I can’t say that it won’t hurt,” Callie winced sympathetically, “But I can promise you that none of it will ever drive me away or make me doubt for one second that that little girl is mine.”

Callie sighed, thumbs rolling soothingly over the sole of the blonde’s foot. “People suck,” she sighed. “And I’m sorry that my mom was the first one to say that to you.”

“It’s okay,” Arizona insisted, speaking softly. “Sofia is our baby. And I love you both more than anything.” Even as she spoke, the infant whimpered and woke, crying right away. Callie started to move, groaning wearily, but Arizona shifted her legs off of her lap and stood up herself. “I’ll get her.”

Watching her cross the room, Callie stayed quiet while Arizona walked the baby around, murmuring to her. They were beautiful. And Arizona’s love was clear on her face. No one should be able to doubt that. But people sucked.

“Don’t look at me like that, Calliope,” the blonde called from where she paced in front of the fireplace, soothing Sofia with her touch and her voice the same way she’d been so good at before the baby’s birth. “I’m her mother.” She chuckled lightly, moving them back toward Callie on the couch. “I think she needs you this time, though.”

Sitting up, the Latina took the baby to nurse her and Arizona went back into the kitchen for another coffee. “I hate you,” Callie said behind her, looking down at the top of Sofia’s head on her chest. “No, I really don’t,” she whispered to the baby. “I just miss coffee.”

Arizona surprised her a few minutes later as Sofia was finishing up her meal with a burp, replacing the baby in her arms with a mug of cocoa. “I know it’s not the same, but it’s the best we’ve got,” she said. “And it’s kind of in the theme of the holidays, right?”

Callie laughed at the reminder, taking a sip of her hot chocolate. “Where are we going to find the time to put up a tree?” They’d kept Thanksgiving low key because of Callie’s advanced pregnancy, dinner with their friends at Derek and Meredith’s house, but with the due date falling between the two holidays they’d wanted to give the baby a real first Christmas with all the trimmings, even if she wouldn’t remember it.

Walking Sofia around again, Arizona shrugged. “Maybe we could just crash Christmas with Tim and Teddy.” It wasn’t ideal, though. She wanted a real family holiday. A tree and presents in their home with their daughter. “I don’t have to be back at work until week after next, maybe I could get Alex to go with me and we’ll pick up a tree,” she suggested. “And then we could all decorate it together.” She had taken two weeks off to get Sofia settled and Callie had her three months of maternity leave, which Arizona was going to overlap hers with, and then they’d be back at work (albeit with lighter schedules) and Sofia would be in daycare at the hospital.

“I like that better,” Callie agreed, nodding. “Do we even have any decorations, or do we need to go buy some?”

“I think there’s a box or two up in the attic. Or maybe in the den, office, room over there,” she answered, nodding toward the room across the hall from the living room they were in that was primarily storage for stuff they hadn’t had time to go through. It had been stuffed with boxes since before she’d moved in to start her residency. “We’ve got time. We’ll figure it out.”

It went against every organized, over prepared bone in Arizona’s body to say that and Callie couldn’t help grinning at her. Motherhood was already changing her partner. She couldn’t wait to see how else little Sofia changed them both.

*****

Carlos was, of course, the first one to ring the doorbell, looking relieved beyond words when Arizona let him in without hesitation. “I wasn’t sure…”

“Come in, please,” she invited him in with a smile.

“They invited us, Dad,” Aria reminded him, pushing past him and scooping up Sofia without a pause. “Hey, my little sobrina!” she cooed to the baby, walking and talking without paying anymore attention to Arizona or Carlos.

Arizona curled her arms around herself as she watched them, not looking at Carlos as she spoke, “Your wife isn’t going to join us…”

He wasn’t sure if it was a statement or a question, but he cleared his throat and shifted his weight between his feet. “Ah, no, I don’t believe so.”

Sighing, she nodded, keeping her eyes focused on her daughter. “Does it change anything for you?”

“No,” Carlos answered her steadily. “I wish she changed things for Lucia, but…”

“She’s your wife,” Arizona said, finally looking sideways at him. “I’ve got one of my own too, so I understand if your loyalty is split.”

“You have a daughter now too,” he reminded her, hands tucking themselves in his pocket. “Could you ever choose between them?”

“That’s never going to happen,” Arizona practically growled, narrowing her eyes. Nothing would ever put her at odds with Callie or Sofia like this. She wouldn’t let it.

Carlos sighed heavily and she could see the weight this was putting on him. “I sincerely hope it never does.”

Tim entered without knocking, one arm wrapped around Teddy’s shoulders and a bottle of wine in the other hand. “For the beautiful hostesses,” he offered, handing the bottle off to his sister. “Where’s Callie? Did she crash?”

“No,” Arizona told him. “She’s in the kitchen.”

“Mom cooked. She’s knows that, right?”

“Yeah, but she’s a little stressed and a little hiding,” confessed Arizona, shrugging. She couldn’t blame her. She was a little jealous of Alex at work right now. “Can you hold things down out here? I’m going to go talk to her.” He nodded easily and went to get his niece from her aunt.

Callie was fidgeting anxiously with the door of the oven and she hissed suddenly as she turned toward the door. “Oh, oww!”

Arizona crossed the room in a second, catching her burned hand. “Calliope, you need to calm down. Everything is fine. Your dad’s here and Aria, and Tim and Teddy just got here.”

“Your parents?”

“They’re on their way, I’m sure,” Arizona soothed her. “How’s your hand? Let me see it.” She uncurled her wife’s fist and brushed her thumb lightly across the red flesh. “What’s in the oven, anyway? My mom’s bringing dinner with her.”

“We have to have something to serve, so I threw some of those scone things in the oven for dessert,” Callie explained, watching Arizona inspect her hand.

“Well, this might be sore for a while, but I don’t think it’s going to blister,” she decided, pulling it to her lips for a soft kiss. “Does that feel better? I need to practice now that we’ve got a kid that’s going to need us to kiss things better.”

Callie smiled, a genuine, relaxed, loving smile. “It feels better. Thank you. I don’t think there’s a boo-boo out there that that can’t help.”

“I hope you’re right,” Arizona whispered, licking her lips nervously, brushing her thumb across Callie’s knuckles. She couldn’t think about Sofia having a hurt she couldn’t kiss and make better. Because in the hospital she wouldn’t be allowed to help her own daughter and that thought killed her.

Callie’s hand on her jaw guided her face up for a slow kiss, each of them relaxing into it. Arizona tugged her closer by the hips and groaned when Callie’s teeth pulled lightly on her lip. “Better?” the brunette asked between kisses.

“When you kiss me, always,” Arizona answered, blinking blue eyes open. “You ready to do this?”

Callie took a deep breath but nodded surely. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

Tim was just letting Barbara and the Colonel in as they rejoined the group in the living room, the male Robbins finding themselves with arms full of pans and bags as Barbara went immediately for her granddaughter.

“You know where it is, guys,” said Arizona with a laugh, waving behind them toward the kitchen. “Mom, thanks for cooking.” The older woman distractedly waved her off and Arizona followed her father and brother into the kitchen with an eye roll. “We’ll get it set up in here.”

Callie just lingered to the side as Arizona left, content to watch their family be together. Anyone who loved them, loved their daughter, was welcome. Anyone else wasn’t. Sofia burped for Teddy and they all laughed at the startled look on her face as Barbara chattered eagerly for more grandchildren.

Carlos sidled up to her and Callie sighed as he fidgeted without speaking. “Dad, if you want to go…” She wouldn’t stop him but it would hurt.

“No,” he cut her off. “I will not lose you again. I won’t miss her life the way I missed yours, Calliope.”

She eyed him, squeezing down hard when he took her hand. “You’re still in this? Even with Mom…?”

“Your mother is wrong,” he declared. “And I’m so sorry for what she said to you, about Arizona.”

“And Sofia is…?”

“She’s your daughter, mija. Arizona’s daughter. My granddaughter and your sister’s niece.” They both smiled as Aria waggled her fingers in front of the baby’s face, the younger Torres sister grinning happily.

“Right answer,” Callie murmured, leaning her head over against her father’s shoulder.

Arizona’s voice from the kitchen door drew their attention and Callie took Sofia from her sister to feed her, the others filing into the kitchen and taking their seats. Carlos stood at the side awkwardly before Barbara gestured for him to take the seat next to her, Callie giving her mother-in-law a grateful look and getting a wink in reply.

Typically, Aria was the one to break the ice, talking about movies and sports and everything that people talked about when they were getting to know each other. And Callie wasn’t sure she’d ever loved her sister more for the effort. Because they were a family, she and Arizona and their daughter, and everyone else in their lives, their parents, their siblings, they could and be friends, or at least friendly.

And there was no one better to facilitate that than Aria.

So Callie stayed mostly quiet, nursing the baby and listening to the normal, natural flow of conversation around the table. The sound of her own name grabbed her attention and she realized that her sister, helpful and supportive one minute, was actually the devil, cheerfully asking for the story of how she and Arizona had met.

Exchanging glances and pointedly ignoring Tim and Teddy’s knowing smirks, the pair of them coughing lightly to cover for laughing, Callie and Arizona both tried to stall. Arizona rolled her eyes at her brother and sipped her water, Callie reaching across the table for the salt shaker.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever heard that story either,” commented Barbara eagerly, prompting another glance between her daughter and in-law. “Come on, girls. You’re going to have to tell Sofia the story someday. Tell us.”

That was a point they hadn’t been expecting. And their little girl would want to know something about how they’d met. But a night full of passionate sex with a stranger wasn’t the best story to tell in their kitchen to their family, even if the stranger had become… everything.

“We met at Joe’s,” Arizona blurted, hoping to keep it simple. “Nothing much to tell, really. I bought her a drink.” More like half a dozen drinks, but again, that wasn’t something she was going to share with the group.

“And then the next morning at work, we had a case together,” Callie said, smiling sweetly. “My first case in Seattle.” And in between the two, they’d had a solid eight hours of flirting and drinking and hot, hot sex that would absolutely not be getting a mention at their family dinner.

“And she asked me out, we started dating, she moved in, I proposed, we got married, and now we have a perfect daughter,” Arizona said, glancing sideways at the pair next to her, Sofia watching the proceedings quietly as she digested her own dinner. Callie’s hand found her knee under the table and squeezed lightly.

“I think Teddy should tell us how Tim proposed,” suggested Callie, eager to get the spotlight off of them.

The heart surgeon grinned knowingly but shrugged. “We were in bed,” she said without hesitation or embarrassment. Tim blushed though. “He was trying to be all smooth and romantic, but he dropped the ring and I rolled over on it.” The entire table laughed, Tim’s shoulders rising around his ears. “So he groped me trying to get it back…”

“Hey, keep it G-rated,” Arizona interjected with a look, reaching across Callie to cover Sofia’s nearer ear.

“This is the clean version, Robbins,” Teddy told her, winking across the table as her best friend grimaced. “Anyway, I found the ring before he did.”

“She screamed in my face,” Tim jumped in, chuckling.

“Oh, I did not!” denied Teddy.

“Squealed then?” he tried, teasing her. “Is squealed a better word?” She shoved at his shoulder and he retaliated by stealing a bite off her plate. Barbara called him down right away, everyone else laughing.

Dinner continued to be a casual, rather noisy affair, though completely relaxed, which was a relief to Callie. She didn’t know what she’d been expecting, but a nice night at home with people who loved them was a pleasant surprise and the perfect way to welcome Sofia home. 

The quiet only really sunk in after everyone was on their way home for the night, Sofia passed out in her mother’s arms as Arizona walked her around the living room. Callie flopped tiredly onto the couch across from her, crossing her arms over her eyes. “I think we kind of owe Aria one, even if she was trying to embarrass us.”

“She really kept it going smoothly,” Arizona agreed, speaking softly to avoid waking the baby in her arms. “Even if that wasn’t exactly why she was asking.”

“I know we need to get her to bed, but I don’t know if I can move. So tired,” groaned Callie, opening her eyes when Arizona’s hand pushed at her shoulder. The blonde stood next to the couch, one arm safely holding Sofia and the other extended to help Callie up. “Oh, babe, no. You’ve got the baby, and I can move…”

“Let’s go then,” said Arizona, still holding her hand out. “Because I know I didn’t push her out, but I’m still exhausted and I can’t really understand how you’re still awake.”

Taking her hand, Callie led them to the stairs, turning off the lights behind them and then following Arizona up with a hand on her back. Sofia’s crib was in their room so they went straight there, tucking the sleeping infant into her bed.

“So, how do you think her first day at home went?” Arizona asked around a yawn. She was tired, but she didn’t want to leave this yet, watching her baby sleep at home, in her own little bed.

Callie smiled, looking down at Sofia sleeping peacefully. “I think she likes it.”

“And how’s her Mami dealing with everything?”

Curling an arm around her wife’s shoulders, Callie pulled her in to kiss the side of her head. “Mami’s fine,” she promised. And she was. Her family was complete and she couldn’t be happier. Her mother couldn’t hurt this bone-deep, soul-fulfilling contentment.

“You’re sure?” Arizona murmured, growing sleepier by the second and leaning more heavily into her.

Callie smiled against her hair. “I’m good if you are,” she promised. “Come on. I’ve got one more girl to get to bed.” Using her arm, she gently steered Arizona toward their bed, shaking her head and smiling as the blonde just flopped fully clothed and facedown onto the bed. “Arizona, you’re still in your clothes…”

She just flapped a hand at her. “Doesn’t matter, just get in,” she requested.

“At least take your pants off, honey.” Arizona didn’t reply, just lifted her hips. Callie shook her head again with a smile as she slipped a hand under her wife and undid the button and zip, pulling the jeans down her legs and dropping them to the floor.

“Now you get in,” Arizona muttered, legs sliding back to flat on the mattress.

Callie knew she should change clothes, maybe take off her makeup, but she couldn’t resist the call of the mattress (and her pants-less wife) and kicked off her own jeans and fell in next to Arizona, the blonde already snuggling into her before she could even reach for her, pulling her arm over her shoulder and holding it.

Oh yeah, if there was something better than this feeling, her wife squirming deeper into her arms, their daughter’s gentle, soft breathing the only sound, she couldn’t imagine it.


	27. Chapter 27

Keeping one eye cautiously on the opened front door where Sofia slept inside, Callie kept her foot on the base of the ladder to stabilize it. “Sweetheart, please be careful up there!” she called up toward the roof where Arizona was stringing lights along the front of their house, checking the baby monitor for the hundredth time. Sofia was still sleeping peacefully in front of the banked fire, locked safely in her carrier. But her wife was ten feet up in the air on an old ladder and she was a little nervous and paranoid at the moment.

“I got it, Calliope,” Arizona called back down. “How’s Sof?”

“She’s sleeping.” Callie leaned her head back to look up at Arizona’s legs. “But she misses you. You should come down now!”

Laughing, Arizona sent her a look over her shoulder. “I’m almost done, babe. Give me two more minutes.” She hooked one arm around a rung and balanced herself on one foot so she could hang half of her body out into air and get a better look at her partner. “If you’re cold you should go inside. I’ll be right in.”

“I’m not leaving you out here to fall and kill yourself, Arizona,” the brunette growled at her stubbornly. They’d already decorated the tree, complete with a little painted handprint ornament courtesy of Sofia Michelle, but Arizona had insisted that they decorate the whole house, which included wreaths on the windows and the door, and lights strung along the roofline.

“I’m not going to fall!” Arizona said with a laugh. “And you’re Ortho! You’d fix me!” Though technically still on vacation, she’d been sporadically back at work for a week already (for budget meetings and the occasional surgery), but Callie still had another two months of leave left. And they were on track to have the decorating done before tomorrow, which happened to be Christmas Eve, and with any luck they’d get to spend at least part of the day together for Christmas. Arizona was crossing her fingers for either breakfast or dinner together as a family, she was realistic enough to know they’d be lucky to get either and not fortunate enough to get both.

The blonde was grinning smugly as she scrambled quickly back down the ladder after hanging the last light and it made Callie roll her eyes and sigh. “You’re lucky you’re so damn cute,” she grumbled, hands in her partner’s coat pockets to haul her against herself. She had to remind herself every single day that she couldn’t jump her wife. Because she desperately wanted to. There was no rule against her pleasuring Arizona except for the one put in place by her stubborn wife. And only three weeks after delivery her body wasn’t recovered yet and Arizona steadfastly refused to let their lovemaking be one-sided.

Catching the look in her eyes, Arizona shook her head even as she leaned in to meet her wife’s lips. “Keep it clean, Torres,” she warned her in the second before their mouths connected, moaning when Callie’s tongue was immediately in her mouth. She responded, closing her lips around it and sucking hard. The moan she got in answer was enough to make her knees week. It had been a long few months. And worse than the drought they’d had while she was in Africa because the woman who set her on fire was present and very, very tempting.

Only the cry from the baby monitor on Callie’s hip made them draw apart, both breathless. Once they stopped the passionate kiss, they realized that it was cold outside of the heat between them. “She’s got that timing down already, doesn’t she?” Callie panted, Arizona unable to help drawing her in for another one with both hands cupping her face. This kiss was slow but still deep and no less passionate for lack of speed.

“Patience,” the blonde murmured when they parted again, a reminder to herself as much as it was to Callie. “We can do this.” That had become their mantra lately. “It’s just -”

“Twenty-one more days,” Callie supplied instantly, having counted and recounted the days multiple times. It had been a long labor and she really was still recovering but her doctor dictating six weeks of no sex felt brutal.

Arizona grimaced. “Well, when you say it like that it sounds longer…” she complained. Callie sighed and nodded, pulling her back into the house by the hand. The Latina stayed by the door to stomp ice off of her shoes and Arizona went to release the squawking baby from her seat. “Just out of morbid curiosity, do you know the number since we’ve…”

Callie looked up at her from the stairs, shaking her head silently. “You don’t want to know, babe,” she advised seriously. “It’s not a good number.” As a matter of fact, sixty-two (three, four, five, and so on) were the vilest numbers at the moment to her sex starved brain. She’d spent fifty-nine dollars at the store last week and had spent a few moments glaring at the number taunting her from her receipt. And it would only get higher before it got wiped out.

Searching for something to raise their spirits, Arizona danced Sofia through the air to her, the baby drooling happily on her mother’s cheek in place of an actual kiss. “At least baby girl is having a good Christmas, right?” She walked them back to the tree to look at the lights, Sofia sitting on Arizona’s arm under her butt with her head on the blonde’s chest.

“Are we even going to try to go to Derek and Meredith’s dinner tomorrow?” Callie asked her as she discarded her shoes. After twenty minutes outside hanging lights it felt too warm inside the house and she stripped out of her coat as well.

Arizona didn’t turn from the tree, bouncing Sofia gently with one hand on her tummy to keep her safely against her chest. “I don’t think I would make it with my eyes open, but you should go if you want to,” she said. They were both tired, still adjusting to sharing their life with their tiny human. “I can keep Sofia.”

“Can we just stay home?” Moving from the stairs to the living room, Callie wrapped both arms around Arizona, cautious not to disturb Sofia’s concentration on their brightly colored tree. She liked the lights.

Leaning back into her, Arizona nodded. “I might get called in, but I would absolutely love that.”

“Maybe Sof could open some of the entirely excessive number of presents she’s gotten from her grandparents,” Callie suggested with a laugh. The Robbins and Carlos really had gone all out over their first granddaughter, as the mountain of gifts around the tree testified to. “If you’re home, of course.” She turned her face into her partner’s neck and kissed along her skin.

“Calliope…” the blonde started warningly, wound up enough at the moment that lips near her neck or ear would lead nowhere good. Well, it was good. And it would be out of this world, to be sure. But she couldn’t let it happen. Not until she could give the feeling back to Callie. “Behave…”

“I don’t want to,” she countered petulantly, nipping lightly at her shoulder. “I want you.”

Arizona started to pull away, she couldn’t control herself if Callie wouldn’t, but her lover adjusted and tightened her hold on her. “And I want you too. I want you to feel as good as you make me feel. So we’re waiting,” she declared firmly.

“But it’s Christmas!”

“It’s our first Christmas with our newborn baby, Calliope,” Arizona reminded her patiently, kissing the top of Sofia’s head and smiling against the soft wisps of curly brown hair. “We can have a nice, quiet, peaceful family holiday, right?” Breathing deeply, Callie nodded against her shoulder. “That’s all I want for Christmas.”

Smiling, Callie nodded again, kissing her neck again lightly. “Me too,” she agreed.

“And when New Year’s rolls around…”

“January twelfth,” Callie clarified pointedly.

Arizona laughed, head turning to get to Callie’s cheek, her lips. “It’s a date,” she promised. The timer on the oven drew Callie away though surprisingly didn’t startle Sofia, Arizona cupping a protective hand around her nearer ear to block the noise. “You really like those lights, don’t you, munchkin?” Arizona noted with another kiss to her daughter’s head.

“Do you want a cookie, sweetheart?” Callie called from the kitchen where she was taking sugar cookies out of the oven. She sent back an affirmative and happily let Callie hold the cookie up for her to take bites off of. “So if you won’t let me…”

“Calliope…”

Arizona’s warning tone stopped her and she rolled her eyes for her wife’s benefit. “What are we doing tonight instead?” It was almost weird having so much free time away from work. But the time with Sofia was amazing and wonderful and perfect.

Finishing her cookie, Arizona brushed crumbs from the baby’s head with a sheepish smile. “Well, first thing, this one needs dinner,” she said, hoisting Sofia in demonstration. “I’ll take care of getting the fire going again if you’ll take care of her.”

“Deal,” Callie said, leaning over and sealing it with a quick kiss as she brushed her own crumbs from her shirt. “Think she’ll go to bed after she eats if we turn off all the lights but the tree?” It really was funny how fascinated the infant was with the Christmas tree lights.

“It’s worth a try,” reasoned Arizona, handing over the baby to retrieve the firewood.

Callie took Sofia to the sofa and got comfortable, letting the baby at her chest and watching Arizona kneeling in front of the fireplace. Her wife really was a stunningly gorgeous woman. If only she wasn’t so damn stubborn all the time they could be putting all this atmosphere to good use…

“I can feel you staring at my butt, Calliope,” Arizona said over her shoulder, smirking at the fire. It caught after a few minutes and she crab-walked backwards to sit leaned back against the base of the couch. 

Callie’s fingers were immediately combing into her hair. “Well, you won’t let me touch, but you can’t stop me from looking,” she said, her other hand stroking Sofia’s back gently. Her two girls right here with her, within reach, was exactly what she wanted. She might be missing the bedroom action, but this was a pretty perfect alternative.

Sofia gave up a healthy burp that made them both laugh and turned her head to see the lights, letting out a soft sigh as she settled onto her mother’s chest. “She’s going to be out,” Arizona whispered, looking over her shoulder at the pair of them. “It’s a Christmas miracle!” They both loved their little girl, but she had so far been consistently difficult at night when it came time for her to fall asleep. Apparently all they’d been missing was Christmas lights.

“Maybe we should put a nightlight in the bedroom if it will help,” suggested Callie. She was willing to try anything if it meant an easier night.

“Maybe we can string the Christmas lights around her crib?”

Callie chuckled softly, cautious not to startle the baby. “Anything that works,” she stated. It was dark outside and inside, but the glow from the lights Arizona had hung up illuminated the front windows of the house. And it was warm inside the room from the fire, making a comfy glowing bubble for them.

It didn’t take long before Sofia was breathing steadily in sleep, the lights apparently the factor needed to soothe her to sleep. She had been joined at some point by her mother, Arizona found when she turned to look at them again. They were so beautiful together. It struck her at least once or twice a day, how incredible it was to see Callie and Sofia, the two loves of her life, together.

Unfortunately she couldn’t just leave them to their adorable sleep, knowing how badly the couch would tweak Callie’s back if she spent the entire night on the deathtrap of a sofa. First though, she got Sofia up into her arms, smiling down at her sweet, sleeping face. “Hey, baby girl. I love you,” she murmured.

Callie stirred as she realized that her baby was no longer on her chest, the sight of Arizona with her instantly calming her. “Hey,” she greeted her, voice rough with sleep. “Bed time?”

The fire had burned down and Arizona nodded, leaning over smoothly to unplug the tree lights without jostling the baby. “Bed time,” she confirmed, getting Sofia upstairs and settled again in her crib in their room with only a soft whimper from her.

As it turned out, they got to spend almost none of Christmas Eve together, Arizona getting called in when a church youth group bus was in an accident. She had to leave just as Sofia was waking up, regretfully leaving her wife to deal with the screaming baby, and had gotten home ten minutes after their daughter had fallen asleep.

She was determined not to miss her daughter’s entire Christmas as well and was first out of bed, intercepting Sofia in the early stage of her wake up where she was still just laying quietly and observing instead of screaming her cute little head off for attention from her mothers. Instead she wiggled her little arms as Arizona’s face appeared over the crib, her legs moving under her blanket.

“There’s my girl,” Arizona whispered with a dimpled smile, picking her up and grinning when the motion got worse, her tiny body squirming eagerly in her hands. “Yeah, baby, it’s Christmas! Are you excited? You don’t know what’s going on, but I think you’re excited!” Missing a day with her hurt. And had she gotten bigger since yesterday?

Sitting her on her hip, she left Callie to get a few more minutes of sleep and went downstairs to plug the lights on the tree back in, Sofia laying quietly and letting her Mama change her diaper while she stared at the colorful bulbs again. “You love the pretty colors, don’t you, sweetie? You got that from Mama. Your Mami doesn’t love colors like we do,” Arizona murmured, looking over toward the stairs when she heard a soft sigh.

“I’m recording, so don’t say anything you don’t want her to hear later,” Callie warned, holding Arizona’s camera in one hand as she captured the moment. “Do we want to do presents first or breakfast?”

“Aww, Calliope, we were trying to let you sleep in,” Arizona said, standing up after a moment of consideration and leaving Sofia wiggling in place on the floor to watch the lights. Callie turned the camera on them when Arizona crossed the room to kiss her sweetly. “Merry Christmas,” she said, voice quiet.

“Merry Christmas,” Callie echoed, nose nuzzling against Arizona before taking another soft kiss. Wrapping her arm around the blonde’s shoulder, she turned the camera back on Sofia. “She looks happy, doesn’t she?”

Arizona nodded quietly. “I don’t want to miss any of it.”

Sighing in sympathy, Callie kissed the side of her head. “You won’t. And even if you get called in, she’s not going to know.”

“Yeah, until she sees this video,” the blonde complained. Unconsciously, she turned her body into Callie’s and wrapped both arms around her, front and back.

“Arizona, she’s fine. She’s perfectly happy,” Callie reminded her gently. “And we can have Christmas with her tomorrow if something happens. She’s not going to know the difference. But don’t even worry about her not missing you if you have to leave. She lights up when you’re around, babe.” She laughed suddenly. “Just maybe not as much as she lights up for those lights,” she said, teasing and pinching her wife’s butt.

Callie made French toast and fed Sofia before they all went back to the living room and settled on the floor so Arizona could help Sofia open her gifts, the little girl caring for none of the gifts but more than happy to be the center of attention. She did like to grab at the bows, wiggling her hand as furiously as she could manage when a newly arrived Alex, who Arizona had insisted come over during the day because he had no one else to visit with, stuck one to her palm while the rest of them laughed and Callie caught the whole thing on video. Arizona took the camera to get shots of Callie and Sofia together with the rest of the gifts. 

Exhausted by the excitement, a fussy Sofia whimpered against Arizona’s shoulder after all the presents, Callie again following them with the camera as they walked around the living room. The blonde had just sat down with the finally sleeping infant on her chest when her pager went off.

Closing the camera with a sigh, Callie went to pick it up off the coffee table for her, Arizona leaning her head back against the couch and groaning. Before she could reach it, Alex dashed in and snagged it. “I’ve got it, boss. Don’t get up.”

One blue eye popped open in disbelief. “What?”

“I’ll go in,” Alex said. “You’ve got your family stuff going on.”

“Karev…”

“Hey, no sentimental crap. Honestly, I need the overtime money,” he said, shrugging into his jacket and pulling a beanie down over his short hair. “That present I got your kid wiped me out.”

Arizona smirked, rolling her eyes at Callie. “I told you that you didn’t have to buy her anything…”

“Whatever,” he said over his shoulder. “I’m out. Save me some leftovers or something.”

Stepping around the colorful, bouncy, rolling, walker toy that Alex had given Sofia for Christmas (he’d shrugged sheepishly and noted that she’d have to grow into it when Callie had pulled the newspaper off the big box), Callie smiled and shifted Arizona’s legs so she could sit down on the couch and put them back across her lap, idly stroking the red flannel pants her wife was so fond of sleeping in (and had been wearing all day). “See? A quiet, peaceful, family Christmas. We got what we wanted.”

“Christmas miracle,” Arizona agreed, closing her eyes again and listening to their daughter’s soft, snuffling breaths against her neck.


	28. Chapter 28

The applause of the OR staff and interns was led by Arizona as Alex finished his solo repair on a nine year old girl’s small intestine, the teacher’s grin clear even through her mask. “Good job, Karev!” They stepped back from the table and knocked knuckles, his dirty gloves against her clean ones.

“Yeah?” he asked, nervous and uncertain and needing reassurance. He acted tough, but he was the same way after all of the surgeries he’d led so far.

“Yes, Alex,” Arizona confirmed with a chuckle. “You did great work. I’m proud of you.”

That got him laughing, shoving at her shoulder with one hand after he snapped off his glove. “Yeah, okay, no need for sappy crap.” He let out a deep breath, shoulders relaxing. “Thanks.”

Arizona wiggled clean gloves at him. “I didn’t do anything. You deserve it.” With a glance up into the gallery, she laughed, pointing up at the window so he would follow her gaze to where Callie was sitting with Sofia on her knee, using both hands to clap the baby’s hands. “Someone’s proud of her Uncle Alex.” He elbowed her firmly as they moved toward the scrub room, his blush hidden behind his mask.

Callie and Sofia were waiting for them in the OR hallway, gorgeous grins on both faces. At twelve weeks old, Sofia had broken out her first real, happy smile almost a month before and it was rarely off her face since. “There’s Mama,” Callie cooed in her ear, both arms tasked with holding the squirmy, wriggling infant against her side. “Take her, take her, take her,” she said quickly, Arizona immediately scooping her up and blowing a raspberry against the tummy of her onesie. “She really wanted you. She wouldn’t sit still the whole time we were in the gallery. She couldn’t see you, but I would point to you and say ‘Mama’ and she just would just wiggle all over.”

Laughing, Arizona bounced her daughter against her side, free hand finding her pink scrub cap in her coat pocket and putting it on Sofia’s head. It promptly slipped down over her eyes but her toothless grin was still visible. Callie helpfully tied it behind her head after Arizona adjusted it up for her. It was still much too big but tucking it behind her ears helped keep it out of her face and Callie eagerly snapped a picture of the two of them on her phone and turned it so Arizona could see.

“We have the cutest baby ever!” the blonde declared proudly. “How long were you two in the gallery? I didn’t think you were going to get to watch any of it.”

Callie shrugged, quick fingers firing the picture off to Arizona’s phone as well as Tim’s, Teddy’s, Barbara’s, Carlos’, and Aria’s. “My hip replacement got moved up so I had a few minutes to go get baby girl from daycare and she wanted to see you.” And it was her first week back at work from maternity leave and she couldn’t resist a chance to get time with her baby.

“Oh, she told you that, did she?” Alex teased gruffly even as two fingers chucked under the little girl’s chin.

Smirking, Callie nodded. “Yes, she did. And she wanted to see her Uncle Alex do his surgery.” Sofia did look pleased to see him, Arizona’s dimpled grin beaming from her cheeks. “Oh my God, I could just eat her up when she looks like that!” Callie cooed, leaning in to kiss her face. “She looks like you,” she said more quietly, popping her head up into Arizona’s space, the matching smile on her wife’s face only inches in front of her.

Those lips were irresistible and she couldn’t help kissing Arizona, a helpful hand sliding into the back of her hair to encourage her. Alex groaned just as Sofia shrieked, her timing for interrupting her parents impeccable. She was still smiling as they separated, apparently just wanting the attention on her. “So, Mami can’t kiss anyone but you, little girl? Because I don’t agree with that,” Arizona told the baby in her arms, giving her a kiss of her own through her scrub cap. 

And if her mental math wasn’t mistaken, they should be able to do a bit more than kiss as of… four weeks ago? What the hell?! How had that happened?! They were still in transition, learning to balance working and a baby. But had they really let being a couple slip through the cracks for a month?! This was completely unacceptable.

“Hey, so do you maybe not have anything going on now?” Callie asked, pointing sternly at Karev when Alex snorted a laugh. But if that look in Callie’s eyes was any indication, she wasn’t the only one displeased with this sudden realization. And really, she’d been waiting on Callie’s timetable anyway. If Callie was only ready now…

“Really subtle, Torres…”

Arizona shot him a sharp look herself, shaking her head warningly. “Don’t you need to check on some post-ops?”

“Don’t you need to come too?” he shot back smugly, arms crossing his chest

Before Arizona could counter, Callie’s pager went off, prompting a groan of protest from both herself and her wife. “911 in the pit. I gotta go,” she said regretfully. “Could you get her back to daycare?”

“Of course,” agreed the blonde, giving her a quick kiss before offering up their daughter for a kiss. “I’ll pick her up and we’ll meet you at home?” A mess in the pit would surely mean that she was going home before Callie. The Latina pouted but nodded. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” Callie echoed, turning to leave with a weak smile over her shoulder for them.

“Well, shoot,” Arizona commented when she and Sofia were alone with Alex.

He grinned at her editing herself around the baby. “You two haven’t… you know, yet?” Blue eyes narrowed at him and he held up both hands in defense. “Hey, I’m with you - that sucks! Sorry you didn’t get to get laid, boss.”

Rolling her eyes at him, she pushed her student toward the hall doors. “You can worry less about my sex life, please. Let’s go talk to Kelly’s parents and let them know you rocked it and I’ll get this one back to the nursery.” And maybe after that she’d see if Tim could be prevailed upon (forced, cajoled, or blackmailed) for babysitting tonight.

Alex gave her a sideways look as they entered the waiting room, smiling in spite of himself at Sofia in the pink cap, still grinning happily at anyone who looked her way. As soon as she learned to harness that look and use it deliberately, she’d be capable of charming anyone, anywhere, he was sure. Their patient’s parents were already on their feet, the mother ringing her hands anxiously.

“Is she - how did it go?” the frenzied woman asked, clinging to her husband’s sleeve.

Glancing at the clearly nervous Alex, Arizona spoke up, “Kelly came through wonderfully, Mr. and Mrs. Simpson. Dr. Karev did a perfect procedure.”

The worried parents went limp in relief, hugging each other and offering them both grateful handshakes. Arizona had to fumble hers around Sofia in her right arm, but they accomplished it, Mrs. Simpson smiling at the little girl. “Is this your daughter? She’s adorable! And she looks just like you!”

“Well, thank you,” Arizona commented with a smile to match Sofia’s. “They’ll be bringing Kelly down to recovery soon and Dr. Karev will be sure to let you know when you can see her.”

“Thank you, Dr. Karev, Dr. Robbins,” the relieved parents offered them again, both of the surgeons nodding and walking away.

“You go check on her post-ops and I’m going to take this one back to the nursery,” Arizona said, giving him a clap on the shoulder. “And good job, Alex.” He grinned as they parted ways, exchanging a fist bump with Sofia’s little hand for good measure.

Sofia had stopped squirming by the time they reached the hospital daycare center, hopefully ready for a nap. Arizona greeted the nurse supervising the daycare center a nod of familiarity and carried her drooping infant through the playroom into the nap room full of cribs. She started to take her scrub cap back as she settled the little girl into her bed, pulling the blanket up over her carefully, but she just looked so freaking cute and she didn’t have the heart to take it off of her. She had other caps she could use if another surgery came up today.

Leaving her with a kiss, she slipped her phone out of her coat pocket and scrolled through her contacts to ‘GI Joe’ and hit the button. Tim had apparently messed with her phone the last time they’d gone out to dinner because Callie’s number was now identified by ‘MILF’ as she noticed it at the top of the list of her speed dials. “What’s up?” he grunted as he answered, audibly turning over on his side of the phone.

“You’re still asleep? It’s after noon, Tim!” Arizona informed him, laughing at her brother.

“I worked last night. We didn’t close until after five,” he said, voice hoarse with sleep. Since his recovery from his injuries in Iraq and the resulting surgeries he’d been working as a bouncer and bartender at a few different bars around Seattle. “What’s up, sis?” Arizona hesitated, chewing on her lip. If Timmy was tired… “Just spit it out,” he advised with a deep laugh. “Do you need me to keep the munchkin tonight? That’s cool. I’m not working.”

“If you’re too tired, it’s okay…” Arizona started.

Tim yawned and she could hear him sit up. “No worries. Should I come over and pick her up, or…?”

“Tim…”

“You’re a baby hog. Gimme my niece,” he ordered. “I want her. I just got this really cool bouncy ball that glows in the dark. She’s going to love it.” 

Arizona wanted to say he was kidding but she knew better than that. “Where did you get a glowing bouncy ball?” She did roll her eyes though. It’s not like he could see her.

“Somebody gave it to me last night. They said I looked bored standing outside,” he answered her, chuckling. “That was before we got busy and I just stuck it in my pocket.”

“Why does it glow? It’s not toxic or anything, is it?”

It was his turn to roll his eyes. “No. I won’t let her put it in her mouth.”

“I know, but…” But she was a paranoid, protective mother now.

“Don’t worry,” he stated, voice clearly fond of his little sister. “She’s safe with me. You know that.”

“I know that,” confirmed Arizona with a deep breath. “Did you get the picture from Callie earlier?” He chuckled and she laughed with him. “You slept through it…”

“Hang on,” he switched her to speakerphone so he could multitask. “I’m looking at it now,” promised Tim, swiping the screen to pull up the image his sister-in-law had sent him. “Well, damn it if that isn’t the cutest kid! Callie sent this to Mom already, didn’t she?”

Arizona giggled, grinning to herself as she stopped by her office to check her messages. “Yeah, I think so. Think she’ll like it?”

“Arizona, it is completely not fair that you and Callie will never have to think of something to get Mom and Dad for any present giving holiday for the rest of our lives. You just have to buy frames,” he complained. He suddenly yawned again. “What time are you bringing her over?”

“I get off at six and I’ll have to go home and get her a little bag and some bottles, but we should be at your place by seven at the latest.”

“Alright,” he said in the middle of another yawn. “That gives me time to get to the store. Have you run this by Teddy yet?”

“I’ll take care of it,” she promised. “Teddy likes babysitting, doesn’t she?” she asked sarcastically.

“Sure, sometimes… I’ll see you later, sis.”

They hung up and Arizona debated going to look for her best friend or calling her. Chance took it out of her hands when she rounded the corner and bumped straight into her. “Arizona, hey! I got that picture earlier and she is just the cutest little thing in the world, isn’t she?”

“She really is,” Arizona agreed with a grin. She knew she was biased, but her daughter was perfect. “And speaking of how much you love her…” Teddy arched an eyebrow at her with a smirk. “I might have already asked Tim if you guys could keep her tonight…”

The heart surgeon held her expression for a long moment, smiling when she blinked. “Yeah, sure. We’ll keep her out of trouble.”

“Well, she probably mostly be sleeping, but thank you,” Arizona said with a relieved smile. “You have no idea how much of a favor you’re doing us.”

That got the taller blonde’s eyebrows rising, her smirk returning in a heartbeat. “Oh yeah? You and Callie got a date?”

“Hell yes!” Arizona agreed emphatically. She couldn’t help herself. It had been a long few months and the wait was finally over. Well, almost over. Close enough that she could almost taste it.

Her friend’s eyes widened at the enthusiasm. “Say no more,” she requested. “Please say no more.” They all got along fine without knowing any kind of details about each other’s sex lives.

Arizona grinned, dimples popping. “You got it. Thanks for keeping Sof tonight. I told Tim I’d get her packed up and bring her over around seven.”

“Sounds good. You guys have fun,” Teddy said, swatting her arm with a chart. “I probably won’t be home until after seven, but I’ll see you tomorrow when we bring her back.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Arizona chattered, waving as they parted ways. She needed to check on Kelly Simpson’s post-ops, make sure Alex had everything under control, and then she could get Sofia, go home, and put a plan in place to seduce her wife.

Work actually cooperated and she was able to leave around six, picking up her daughter and getting them home with plenty of time. Sofia helped her out as well, sitting quietly in her bouncy seat and watching her mother tear back and forth around the house while she packed up an overnight bag for her and brushed her teeth and redid her makeup simultaneously. She grinned happily when her mother rushed down the stairs in heels and a pretty, clingy blue dress that hit just below mid-thigh.

“What do you think, Sof? Think Mami will like it?” Arizona asked, twirling breathlessly in front of Sofia’s seat. The baby just grinned widely at her, wriggling a little for emphasis. “I hope so too.” She’d bought the dress weeks ago, but put it in the back of the closet and forgot about it. And she hadn’t worn it yet. What promised to be fun tonight would have been cruel before they could touch each other. “You ready to go see your Uncle Timmy?”

Tim gave her a second look as soon as he opened the door for them, clearly not expecting the dress. “Whoa.”

“Yeah?” Arizona questioned with a laugh. “It’s not too much?”

He closed his mouth with a click, shaking his head. “Callie’s going to love it.” Hooking Sofia’s carrier from her, he shot her a look. “It is for Callie, right? Because sister or not, I’ll kick your butt…”

Arizona rolled her eyes at him, shoving his shoulder and following him into the spacious apartment. “Of course it’s for Callie. It’s just our first… night off together in a while and I wanted to look halfway decent.”

“Mission accomplished,” he assured her, smirking over his shoulder at her as he set Sofia’s carrier down and released her from the restraints. “Hey there, kiddo. Where’s your pretty pink hat?” he asked, lightly teasing his sister as he picked up the baby.

“Oh, she still has it. She was holding it when I came to get her from daycare and she wouldn’t let it go,” Arizona said, pulling her scrub cap from the baby carrier where it had gotten stuffed between the seat and the side, wiggling it by the strings in front of Sofia’s face. She didn’t have to motor control yet to grab for it, but she clearly wanted it and Arizona handed it over to her brother. “She loves anything colorful.”

“Well, I’ve got this,” Tim pulled his bouncy ball out of his pocket and Sofia’s eyes went wide at the neon orange orb. The timer went off in the kitchen behind them and Arizona cocked an eyebrow at him. “Hey, we’ve all got women we want to impress,” he said with a shrug and playful grin.

Arizona laughed, rising on her toes to kiss his cheek. “Well, good luck, then,” she offered.

“You too,” he said, turning Sofia so Arizona could kiss her goodbye. “Bye-bye, Mama!”

She could hear him talking to the baby as she went back down the hall and out the door, sneaking one final glance back at them, Tim bouncing the ball against the floor while Sofia did her best to track it with her eyes, her grin locked in place on her face.

There was traffic on her way home but even the delay and stop and go on the road didn’t get her down. She was going to get to spend the entire night alone with Callie and they’d been waiting for months already. A few more minutes wouldn’t kill her. At this point, her patience was nearing some kind of saintly level.

Pulling into the driveway, it was if the stars had aligned and the universe wanted her to get laid because Callie’s car was already there. She rushed up the walkway toward the door, but took a moment outside to smooth her dress and tweak her hair before she entered the house. “Calliope, I’m home!”

“Hey,” Callie called from the kitchen. “I thought you were going to beat me home. Where’d - oh my God…” she trailed off as she turned and caught sight of her wife. “Arizona… You look amazing…” she sighed, voice husky with need and entirely sexy. It was enough to make the blonde go weak in the knees. Callie looked down at herself. “I’m wearing jeans,” she said dumbly. “And look at you…”

Arizona bit her lip, her own eyes drinking in the sight of her lover. Calliope Torres could wear a pair of jeans like no one else. And these were good jeans, clinging to all the right places. “You look great.” Of course, Callie could wear a garbage bag and look incredible. “Calliope…”

Moving down the hall seemingly on autopilot, Callie reached for her as soon as she was in range, swallowing thickly through a dry throat. “Where’s Sofia?”

“Tim’s going to keep her tonight,” Arizona answered her, her own voice hoarse.

Callie nodded, hand slipping across a bare shoulder and up her neck. “Good. I’m going to kiss you now,” she said, brooking no discussion or argument, even if Arizona was inclined to make one.

“I hope you’re going to do a hell of a lot more than that,” Arizona breathed, heels giving her enough of a height boost to put her level with Callie’s lips. All she had to do was lean in. Callie’s hand was already searching for the zipper on her back. Life might never be perfect, but she couldn’t imagine that it could get much better than this.


End file.
